• 

- 


a       ; 


' 


. 


GIFT  OF 
A.    F.    Morrison 


lOWELL'S  HANDY  INFORMATION  SERIES 

HOW  TO  PLAY 
CHESS 


COMPILED  BY 
CHARLOTTE  BOARDMAN  ROGERS 


NEW  YORK 

THOMAS  Y.  CKOWELL  &  CO. 
PUBLISHERS 


GVHi 


(1TT?T 


/\  F 


Copyright,  1907, 
BY  THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  &  Co. 


PREFACE 

In  preparing  the  present  work  the  com- 
piler wishes  to  give  full  credit  to  those 
books  which  she  has  had  occasion  to  use 
as  authorities  for  the  general  principles 
and  laws  of  the  game  and  for  such  of  its 
history  as  the  limited  space  of  the  INTRO- 
DUCTION permitted.  The  list  is  as  follows: 
"The  Chess-Player's  Handbook,"  by 
Howard  Staunton;  "Chess,"  by  E.  F. 
Green ;  "  The  Principles  of  Chess  in  The- 
ory and  Practice,"  and  "  The  Art  of 
Chess,"  by  James  Mason ;  "  The  Ameri- 
can Cyclopedia,"  and  "  The  Life  of  Phili- 
dor,"  by  George  Allen. 

C.  B.  E. 

May  1,  1907. 

ivi99164 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    INTRODUCTION 1 

II.    THE   BOARD    AND   THE   MEN     ...       6 

The  Game  —  The  Board  — The  Men 
— •  Setting  Up  the  Board  —  Names  of 
the  Pieces  and  Pawns  —  Names  of  the 
Squares. 

III.  OBJECT  OF  THE  GAME  AND  ORDER  OF 

PROCEDURE 13 

IV.  THE  MOVES 16 

King's  Move  —  Queen's  Move  — 
Bishop's  Move  —  Knight's  Move  — 
Rook's  Move  —  Pawn's  Move. 

V.    TECHNICAL    TERMS    EXPLAINED     .      .     27 

VI.    CHESS    RULES 49 

Rules  when  Odds  are  Given  — 
Rules  for  Play  by  Consultation  — 
Rules  for  Play  by  Correspondence. 

VII.     SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BEGINNERS     ...     63 

Familiarity  with  Technical  Terms 
—  Playing  with  Either  Color  —  Value 
of  Practicing  One  Game  —  Playing  by 
Time  —  Developing  the  Game  —  The 
Value  of  the  Pieces  —  Studying  the 
Board. 


vi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

VIII.    SYSTEMS    OF    NOTATION       ....     76 

English  Notation  —  German  Nota- 
tion. 

IX.    PRACTICE   GAME        86 

X.    CHESS    OPENINGS 103 

The  King's  Knight's  Opening  — The 
King's  Bishop's  Opening  —  The  Queen's 
Bishop's  Opening  —  The  King's  Gam- 
bit —  The  Gambit  Declined  —  The 
Queen's  Gambit  —  Irregular  Open- 
ings. 

XI.    END  GAMES 116 

XII.    MIDDLE  GAMES 132 

XIII.    CONCLUSION US 

Chess  Problems  —  Key  to  Chess 
Problems  —  Examples  of  Masterpla y 

BIBLIOGRAPHY  .     .     .     .161 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

The  game  of  Chess  originated  in  India 
about  five  thousand  years  ago  and  is  the 
oldest  and  most  scientific  game  of  a  seden- 
tary character.  The  name  comes  from  the 
Persian  shah,  or  King  which  is  the  name 
of  the  principal  Piece  and  upon  whose  cap- 
ture the  fate  of  the  game  depends. 

The  history  of  Chess  is  extremely  in- 
teresting as  people  of  all  nations,  famous 
in  all  professions,  have  given  it  careful  at- 
tention and  study.  From  its  origin  in 
India,  its  popularity  spread  Eastward  to 
China  and  Japan;  and  then  Westward, 
through  Persia  and  Bysantium  to  Europe 
where,  during  the  Middle  Ages,  it  became 
1 


2  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

the  favorite  pastime  of  the  cloister  and 
,th:<3  cour.t;. .  In  this  connection  it  is  worthy 
of  note  that  Cliesc  is  the  only  game  of  the 
kind  that  has  always  been  approved  by 
the  priesthood  of  all  faiths;  Catholic, 
Protestant,  Buddhist,  and  Moslem.  In 
Philidor's  day,  during  the  first  half  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century,  it  was  the  custom  in 
Europe  for  the  musicians  at  the  royal 
chapels  to  amuse  themselves  with  Chess 
when  their  services  were  not  required  dur- 
ing High  Mass;  and  it  was  for  this  rea- 
son that  the  name  of  Philidor  has  lived 
in  the  history  of  Chess  rather  than  in  the 
history  of  music,  for  he  was  a  great  mu- 
sician as  well  as  a  remarkably  skilled 
Chess  player. 

Since  the  invention  of  the  game,  five 
thousand  years  ago,  its  development  may 
be  said  to  have  undergone  three  distinct 
periods.  The  first  lasted  until  about  600 
A.  D.,  and  during  that  time  it  was  played 
by  four  persons,  the  move  of  each  Chess- 
man being  about  the  same  as  it  is  now,  but 
a  dice  wras  thrown  to  decide  which 


INTRODUCTION  3 

one  was  to  be  played.  The  second  period 
lasted  from  the  Seventh  to  the  Sixteenth 
Century,  during  which  time  the  game  was 
reduced  to  a  contest  between  two  persons. 
The  element  of  chance  was  also  done  away 
with,  and  the  dice  discarded.  The  third 
and  last  stage  in  the  development  of  the 
game  began  at  the  close  of  the  Sixteenth 
Century  and  continues  until  and  during 
the  present  day. 

During  the  last  century,  Chess  period- 
icals were  introduced  and  public  contests 
were  established  between  famous  players 
or  between  the  different  clubs.  Chess  as- 
semblies, tournaments,  and  contests  for 
amateurs  were  also  first  held  in  the  Nine- 
teenth Century  which  added  greatly  to 
the  interest  and  general  popularity  of  the 
game.  To-day,  even  the  daily  newspapers 
give  space  to  the  subject,  recording  the 
moves  in  match  tournament  games  so  that 
a  person  may  follow  each  play  by  reading 
his  paper  just  as  readily  as  if  he  were  an 
eye-witness  of  the  game. 

In   connection   with   the   study   of   the 


4:  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

game,  it  is  interesting  to  know  that  among 
its  devotees  have  been  such  monarchs  as 
Charles  XII.,  Napoleon  I.,  Frederick  the 
Great,  Charlemagne,  and  Haronn  al- 
Rashid;  and  such  philosophers  as  Vol- 
taire, Rosseau  and  Franklin. 

The  literature  of  the  game  has  been  con- 
tributed to  by  writers  of  all  nations  and, 
while  the  student  cannot  be  expected  to 
become  familiar  with  all  that  has  been 
written  on  the  subject,  he  should  know, 
at  least,  the  names  which  are  most  prom- 
inent in  connection  with  the  scientific  de- 
velopment of  Chess.  Among  them  are : 
Hanstein,  Von  der  Lasa,  Lange,  and  Har- 
witz,  of  Germany ;  Cunningham,  Janssen, 
Sarratt,  M'Donnell,  and  Staunton,  of 
England ;  Petroff  and  Kieseritzky,  of  Rus- 
sia; Szen  and  Lowenthal,  of  Hungary; 
Stein,  of  Holland;  Stamma,  of  Syria; 
Philidor,  Deschappelles,  and  La  Bourdeu- 
nais,  of  France;  Ruy  Lopez  and  Xerone, 
of  Spain;  Dubois,  Salvio,  Paoli  Boi  and 
Del  Rio,  of  Italy;  and  Morphy  of  the 
United  States.  The  East,  where  the  game 


INTRODUCTION  5 

originated,  has  also  contributed  to  its  liter- 
ature and  the  Asiatic  names  associated 
with  it  are :  Sokeiker,  Ehazes,  Suli,  Dami- 
ri,  Ibn  Sherf  Mohammed,  Ghulam  Kas- 
sim  and  All  Shatranji. 

While  Chess  is  a  purely  scientific  form 
of  amusement,  and  one  that  requires  con- 
stant practice  and  study,  if  a  player  de- 
sires to  become  skilled,  it  affords  such 
pleasure  to  those  who  are  among  its  de- 
votees and  offers  such  exceptional  oppor- 
tunities for  mental  development  that  no 
person  of  culture  can  afford  to  neglect  it. 
Of  course,  the  scope  of  the  present  volume 
only  permits  a  survey  of  the  general  prin- 
ciples and  laws  of  the  game  but  the  com- 
piler has  endeavored  to  give  the  student  a 
thorough  groundwork  for  ordinary  pur- 
poses; but  for  the  benefit  of  those  who 
wish  to  go  into  the  minutest  details  of  the 
most  scientific  play,  a  Bibliography  has 
been  prepared  to  which  the  student  is  re- 
ferred after  he  has  mastered  the  contents 
of  the  present  work. 


CHAPTEE  II 

THE  BOARD  AND  THE  MEN- 

THE  GAME. 

The  Game  of  Chess  is  played  on  a 
board  by  two  persons  or  parties,  each  hav- 
ing sixteen  men;  eight  on  the  first  rank 
called  Pieces,  and  eight  on  the  second 
rank,  called  Pawns. 

THE  BOARD. 

A  Chess  Board  is  a  perfect  square  which 
is  further  divided  into  sixty-four  smaller 
squares  of  alternate,  contrasting  colors; 
one  light  or  white,  and  one  dark  or  black. 
The  light  colored  square  is  always  referred 
to  as  White,  and  the  dark  colored  square 
is  always  referred  to  as  Black.  The  board 
is  placed  between  the  two  players  so  that 
each  has  a  white  square  at  his  right  hand, 
6 


THE  BOARD  AXD  THE  MEN  7 

and  one  half  of  the  board  is  called  the 
King's  Side,  and  the  other  half  the 
Queen's  Side,  but  the  beginner  will  under- 
stand the  arrangement  more  clearly  when 
he  is  familiar  with  the  men. 

THE  MEN. 

The  Game  of  Chess  is  played  with  thir- 
ty-two men,  sixteen  of  which  are  light  in 
color  and  referred  to  as  White ;  and  sixteen 
dark  and  spoken  of  as  Black.  The  player 
or  party  on  one  side  of  the  board  has  the 
Black  men  while  the  player  or  party  on 
the  other  side  has  the  White  men.  The 
Chessmen  are  divided  into  two  classes: 
Pieces  and  Pawns.  When  the  board  is 
set  up  the  Pieces  stand  on  the  first  rank 
and  include : 

One  King  of  each  color,  indicated  by 
K. 


One  Queen  of  each  color,  indicated  by 
Q. 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


Two  Bishops  of  each  color,   indicated 

B.  jj     * 

.gp-^7^-^    4^^0WNk 

Two  Knights  of  each  color,  indicated 


Two  Books  of  each  color,  indicated  by 


Formerly  the  word  Castle  was  used, 
but  it  is  now  almost  obsolete,  the  word 
Book  being  given  the  preference. 

The  Pawns,  of  which  there  are  eight  of 
each  color,  are  all  alike  in  design  and 
stand  on  the  second  rank  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  game.  They  are  indicated  by 
P.  <,  . 

^r\      4fc 

SETTING  UP   THE  BOARD. 

DIAGEAM  I  shows  the  board  arranged 
for  the  play.  The  student  will  note  that 
the  King  and  Queen  occupy  the  two  mid- 
dle squares,  each  Queen  being  on  the 
square  of  her  own  color.  ]^ext  come  the 
Bishops,  one  'on  each  side  of  the  King  and 


THE  BOARD  AND  THE  MEX 


9 


Queen;  then  the  Knights,  and  finally  the 
Eooks  which  occupy  the  corner  squares. 
The  Pawns  are  arranged  on  the  squares  in 
front  of  the  Pieces. 


BLACK 


Queen's  Side. 


King's  Side. 


Queen's  Side.  King's  Side. 

WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  I. 

Pieces  and  Pawns  in  Position. 


10  HOW  TO  PLAY  ClIEtiti 

NAMES  or  THE  PIECES  AND  PAWNS. 

The  chessmen  of  each  player  are  fur- 
ther named  according  to  their  positions 
upon  the  board.  Thus,  the  Bishop  next 
to  the  Queen  is  called  the  Queen's  Bishop, 
indicated  by  QB ;  and  the  Bishop  next  to 
the  King  is  called  the  King's  Bishop,  in- 
dicated by  KB.  The  Knight  on  the 
Queen's  side  is  called  the  Queen's  Knight, 
indicated  by  QKt,  and  the  Knight  on  the 
King's  side  is  called  the  King's  Knight, 
indicated  by  KKt.  The  Eook  on  the 
Queen's  side  is  called  the  Queen's  Eook, 
indicated  by  QE,  and  the  Eook  on  the 
King's  side  is  called  the  King's  Eook,  in- 
dicated by  KE. 

The  Pawns  are  named  after  the  Pieces 
in  front  of  which  they  stand.  Thus,  be- 
ginning at  the  left  (as  shown  in  DIAGRAM 
i)  the  Pawns  are  called  the  Queen's  Book's 
Pawn  (QEP);  the  Queen's  Knight's 
Pawn  (QKtP) ;  the  Queen's  Bishop's 
Pawn  (QBP)  ;  the  Queen's  Pawn,  (QP)  ; 
the  King's  Pawn  (KP)  ;  the  King's  Bish- 


THE  BOARD  AND  THE  MEN  11 

op's  Pawn,  (KBP)  ;  the  King's  Knight's 
Pawn,  (KKtP);  and  the  King's  Kook's 
Pawn,  (KEP).  The  student  should  fa- 
miliarize himself  with  the  letters  by  which 
the  different  Pieces  and  Pawns  are  distin- 
guished so  that  he  may  readily  identify 
them,  as  the  names  are  seldom  used  in  full. 

NAMES  OF  THE   SQUARES. 

The  squares  are  named  after  the  Pieces 
which  occupy  them  at  the  beginning  of  the 
game.  The  square  occupied  by  the  Queen 
is  called  the  Queen's  Square  (QSq)  and 
the  squares  in  front  of  it  are  numbered  in 
order  across  the  board  thus :  Q2  ;  Q3  ;  Q4 ; 
Q5;  Q6;  Q7;  Q8.  It  will  be  noted  from 
DIAGRAM  ii.,  that  Q8  of  the  Black  Queen 
is  the  Queen's  Square  of  the  White  Queen, 
as  each  player  counts  from  his  own  side  of 
the  board.  The  names  of  the  squares  are 
abbreviated  thus:  KSq;  K2 ;  K3 ;  K4; 
K5;  K6;  K7;  KS ;  KBSq;  KB2 ;  KB3; 
KB4;  KB5;  KBO ;  KB7;  KB8;  KKtSq; 
KK>2;  KKt3  KKt4;  KKt5 ;  KKt6 
KKt7;  KKt8;  KESq;  KE2 ;  KE3; 


12 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


KR4 ;  KR5  ;  KE6 ;  KEY ;  KRS  ;  and  cor- 
respondingly on  the  Queen's  side.  If  the 
student  will  study  DIAGRAM  n  with  care, 


BLACK. 


osiyjp 
QKT.  8 


QR6 


L 

QR5 


rn 

QR4 


ft- 


QRSQ. 


n 

QKT.6 


n 

QKT.3 


n 

QKTSQ 


990 


-&W5 


n 


D 


fl 


a 


0 

K5 


D 


D 

K5Q. 


D 


'AB4 


99N 

6:3 


KKr.4 


KKT.3 


K  KT. 


K  KT.SQ 


D 


KRsa 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  II. 

Showing  the  Names  of  the  Squaivs. 

he  will  have  no  difficulty  in  recognizing 
the  different  squares  when  reference  is 
made  to  them. 


CHAPTEK  III 

OBJECT  OF  THE  GAME  AND  ORDER  OF  PRO- 
CEDURE 

The  game  of  Chess,  as  already  stated, 
is  played  by  two  persons  or  parties,  and  the 
object  of  each  is  to  capture  his  opponent's 
King  or  place  him  in  such  a  position  that 
he  cannot  move  without  being  taken.  If 
the  King  is  attacked,  or  threatened  with 
capture,  the  attacking  party  must  give 
warning  by  calling  out  "  Check  " ;  and  if 
the  King,  in  the  next  move  cannot  avoid 
the  attack  he  is  "  checkmate  "  or  "  mate  " 
and  the  game  is  at  an  end,  the  person  hav- 
ing first  captured  his  opponent's  King  be- 
ing the  winner.  The  student  will  note 
that  the  game  stops  one  move  short  of  the 
final  play  which  takes  the  King. 

If,  for  any  reason,  the  Kings  occupy 
13 


14  HOW  TO  fLAY  CHESS 

such  positions  upon  the  board  that  neither 
can  be  captured  the  game  is  drawn. 

The  players  first  arrange  the  board  as 
shown  in  DIAGRAM  i,  and  draw  lots  for 
the  color  with  which  each  is  to  play.  The 
game  is  generally  opened  by.  the  White 
Men.  When  the  player  who  has  drawn 
the  White  Men  moves  a  Piece  or  a  Pawn, 
it  is  his  opponent's  turn,  and  so  the  game 
continues,  each  moving  alternately,  one 
man  at  a  time,  of  his  own  color  and  cap- 
turing only  the  men  of  the  opposite  color. 
Under  only  one  condition,  of  which  the 
student  will  learn  later,  is  a  player  allowed 
to  make  two  moves  in  succession.  Until 
a  student  has  had  considerable  experience, 
and  learned  to  play  a  game  of  his  own  he 
will  do  well  to  move  each  Piece  once  be- 
fore he  has  moved  any  Piece  twice,  as  this 
will  enable  him  to  keep  his  forces  together 
and  prevent  needless  exposure  and  weak- 
ness in  his  defence  and  attack. 

Both  distance  and  direction  must  be 
taken  into  consideration  with  every  move, 
as  well  as  the  advantages  that  are  to  be 


OBJECT  OF  THE  GAME  15 

gained  by  moving  any  one  Piece  in  pref- 
erence to  another,  but  the  student  must  be- 
come familiar  with  the  relative  value  of 
the  Pieces  and  Pawns  and  with  their  re- 
spective moves,  before  this  can  be  made 
perfectly  clear  to  him. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE-  MOVES 

In  learning  the  moves  of  the  various 
Pieces  and  Pawns,  the  beginner  is  advised 
to  have  a  board  before  him  and  to  secure 
the  assistance  of  an  experienced  player  if 
available;  for  while  they  are  very  simple 
to  understand  when  demonstrated,  their 
description  in  words  may  sound  compli- 
cated. The  diagrams,  however,  should  be 
carefully  studied. 

THE   KING'S  MOVE^ 

The  King  may  move  one  square  at  a 
time  in  any  direction.  Thus,  when  the 
Black  King,  for  example,  stands  on  Q5 
he  "  commands/'  or  may  move,  to  any  one 
of  the  eight  adjacent  squares  as  indicated 
in  DIAGRAM  in.  Should  one  of  these 
squares  be  occupied,  however,  by  one  of 
16 


THE  MOVES 


17 


his  own  men,  he  could  not  move  to  it,  or 
should  his  adversary,  the  White  King,  be 
near,  his  move  would  be  further  restricted. 


BLACK. 


DIAGRAM  III. 
The  King's  Move. 

For  example :  Suppose  the  Black  King 
stands  on  Q5,  a  Black  Pawn  stands  on  K6 
and  the  White  King  stands  on  K2.  Wow 


'l8  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

the  Black  King  commands  all  of  the  ad- 
joining squares,  but  he  can  only  move  to 
one  of  six  of  them  and  not  to  any  one  of 
the  eight,  as  he  could  in  DIAGRAM  in. 
He  cannot  move  to  K6  because  his  own 
Pawn  occupies  it  and  also  because  the 
White  King  could  move  into  it  were  he 
alone  on  the  board.  Nor  can  the  Black 
King  move  into  Q6,  because  that  also  is  a 
square  within  the  range  of  movement  of 
his  adversary,  or  one  of  the  eight  squares 
commanded  by  the  White  King  were  he 
alone  upon  the  board.  Thus,  the  sphere 
of  influence  of  the  two  Kings  overlaps  at 
K6  and  Q6  with  the  result  that  those  two 
squares  are  neutral  territory,  forbidden  to 
both  by  the  fundamental  laws  of  Chess, 
for  the  Kings  must  always  have  an  inter- 
val of  at  least  one  square  between  them. 

As  the  object  of  the  game  is  to  capture 
or  checkmate  the  adversary's  King,  it  is 
readily  seen  that  he  is  of  paramount  im- 
portance, and  that  the  moves  of  all  the 
other  Pieces  and  Pawns  are  made  with 
reference  to  him. 


THE  MOVES 
THE  QUEEN'S  MOVE. 


19 


The  Queen  moves  in  any  direction,  like 
the  King,  but  she  is  not  restricted  to  dis- 


BLACK. 


— f  — 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  IV. 
The  Queen's  Move. 


tance  and  may  cover  any  number  of  unoc- 
cupied squares  to  the  limits  of  the  board 
in  a  horizontal,  vertical  and  diagonal  line. 


20  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

Thus,  a  Queen  on  Q4,  as  shown  in  DIA- 
GRAM iv,  commands  twenty-seven  squares. 
Owing  to  the  squares  at  her  command,  she 
is  the  most  powerful  of  the  Pieces,  but  her 
power  would  be  disproportionally  great 
were  it  not  that  she  can  be  exchanged  only 
for  the  opposing  Queen  without  material 
loss.  When  the  Queen  occupies  a  side 
square,  the  sum  of  the  diagonal  moves  pos- 
sible to  her  is  always  seven. 

THE  BISHOP'S  MOVE. 

The  Bishop  moves  over  any  number  of 
unoccupied  squares  in  a  diagonal  line, 
from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  he  always 
occupies  squares  of  the  same  color  as  the 
one  on  which  he  stands  at  the  beginning 
of  the  game.  As  the  King's  Bishop  is  on 
a  square  of  one  color  and  the  Queen's 
Bishop  on  a  square  of  another  color,  at 
the  opening  of  the  game,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  two  Bishops  are  easily  distin- 
guished and  never  interfere  with  each 
other.  From  a  center  square,  Q4,  for  ex- 
ample as  shown  on  DIAGRAM  v,  the  Bishop 


THE  MOVES 


21 


commands    thirteen     squares.     When    he 
occupies  a  side  square,  however,  the  sum 


BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  V. 
The  Bishop's  Move. 


of  the'  diagonals  to  which  he  can  move  is 
always  seven,  the  same  as  the  Queen. 


22  HOW  TO  PLAT  CHESS 

THE  KNIGHT'S  MOVE. 

The   Knight's   move   is   L   shaped   and 
more  difficult  to  explain  than  any  of  the 

BLACK. 


DIAGRAM  VI. 

The  Knight's  Move. 


others.     He  moves  horizontally  or  verti- 
cally in  any   direction,   two  squares  for- 


THE  MOVES  23 

ward,  and  one  square  to  either  the  right  or 
the  left,  leaping  over  the  intervening 
squares  whether  they  are  occupied  or  not. 
Thus  the  Knight  on  Q4  commands  eight 
squares  as  shown  on  DIAGRAM  vi.  By 
placing  the  Knight  on  any  of  the  center 
squares  the  student  will  see  that  his  move 
appears  to  be  a  leap  from  the  square  on 
which  he  stands  to  the  next  but  one  of  a 
different  color.  ,From  a  mathematical 
point,  the  Knight's  move  is  the  diagonal 
of  a  rectangle  of  six  squares  and  is  as  reg- 
ular as  that  of  any  of  the  other  Pieces. 
Owing  to  the  character  of  his  move  he  is 
less  liable  to  resistance  than  any  of  the 
other  Pieces. , 

THE  ROOK'S  MOVE. 

The  Rook  moves  in  four  directions — 
parallel  to  the  sides  of  the  board,  and  over 
any  number  of  unoccupied  squares.  Thus, 
a  rook  standing  on  Q4  commands  fourteen 
squares  as  shown  in  DIAGRAM  vn  and 
is  next  in  power  to  the.  Queen. 


24  HOW  TO  PLAY  ClIEtiti 

BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  VII. 
The  Rook's  Move. 

THE  PAWN'S  MOVE. 

The  Pawn  moves  forward  only,  one 
square  at  a  time ;  excepting  in  the  first 
move  when  it  may  move  one  or  two  squares 
at  the  option  of  the  player.  In  moving 


THE  MOVES  25 

two  squares,  however,  if  the  Pawn  passes 
an  adverse  Pawn,  it  may  be  taken  in  pass- 
ing by  the  adversary.  When  a  Pawn  has 
advanced  eight  squares  in  any  file,  it  must 
immediately  be  exchanged  for  a  Piece  of 
its  own  color,  at  the  choice  of  its  owner, 
after  which  it  acts  as  if  it  were  an  original 
Piece  just  moved  into  that  square  by  the 
player. 

From  this  it  will  be  seen  that  there  may 
be  three  or  more  Queens,  Bishops,  Knights 
or  Eooks  on  the  board  at  the  same  time  be- 
longing to  the  same  player,  though  the 
number  of  Chessmen  belonging  to  each 
player  can  never  exceed  sixteen.  This 
power  of  the  Pawn  to  become  a  Piece  in- 
creases its  importance,  in  spite  of  its  slow 
progress  across  the  board  and  makes  it  of 
more  value  than  would  at  first  be  imag- 
ined. A  fine  player  may  always  be  iden- 
tified by  his  judicious  handling  of  the 
Pawns. 

While  the  Pawn's  move  is  forward  in 
M  vertical  line,  its  power  of  capturing  radi- 
,ates  forward  diagonally.  Thus  if  a  White 


26  HOW  TO  PLAY  C II ESS 

Pawn  occupies  QB3  and  a  Black  Pawn 
stands  on  Q5,  the  White  Pawn  moves  di- 
agonally from  its  QB3  to  Q4  and  captures 
the  Black  Pawn.  If  there  were  no  ad- 
verse Piece  to  capture,  the  White  Pawn 
would  move  to  QB4. 


CHAPTER  V 

TECHNICAL  TERMS  EXPLAINED 

Adverse  Piece.  A  Piece  of  the  oppo- 
site color. 

Attack.  This  term  may  be  explained, 
in  several  different  ways : 

(1)  Any   force   commanding  a   square 
occupied  by  an  adverse  force  is  said  to  at- 
tack the  latter,  though  attack  may  exist 
without  power  to  capture. 

(2)  A  combined  movement  of  two  or 
more  Pieces  tending  to  compel  the  adver- 
sary to  abandon  some  particular  force  or 
position. 

(3)  A  combination  against  the  King  or 
his  position. 

(4)  The  player  opening  the  game  (gen- 
erally the  White),  makes  the  attack. 

(5)  A  strategic  move  directed  against 
a  weak  part  of  the  enemy's  force. 

27 


28  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

Blindfold  Chess,  or  Chess  Sans  Voir. 
Games  played  without  seeing  either  the 
board  or  the  men.  The  power  of  playing 
at  least  one  game  in  this  way  is  generally 
acquired  by  every  player ;  and  persons  who 
are  skilled  in  the  science  of  Chess  have 
been  known  to  conduct  as  many  as  a  dozen 
such  games  simultaneously. 

Capturing.  Moving  a  Piece  or  Pawn 
into  a  square  occupied  by  an  adverse  Piece 
or  Pawn  and  taking  or  "  capturing "  it. 
Any  Piece  or  Pawn  may  be  captured  with 
the  exception  of  the  King,  his  capture  is 
accomplished  by  "  checkmate."  The  vari- 
ous Pieces  capture  according  to  the  direc- 
tion and  extent  of  their  respective  moves. 
The  Pawns,  however,  vary  from  this  rule 
and  are  allowed  to  move  one  square  for- 
ward in  a  diagonal  line  from  the  one  on 
which  they  stand,  in  order  to  capture  an 
adverse  Piece  or  Pawn. 

Castling.  A  combined  move  of  King 
and  Rook  allowed  to  each  player  once 
in  a  game  and  consisting  of  moving  the 
Rook  to  the  square  next  to  the  King,  and 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  EXPLAINED       29 


the  King  to  the  square  on  the  other  side 
of  the  Rook.  After  castling  with  the 
King's  Rook  the  King  occupies  KKtSq. 
and  the  Rook  occupies  KBSq.,  as  shown 
in  DIAGKAM  vin.  After  castling  with 


(1)   Before  Castling. 


(2)   After   Castling. 

DIAGRAM  VIII. 

Castling   With   The   King's   Rook. 

the  Queen's  Rook  the  King  occupies 
QBSq.  and  the  Rook  occupies  QSq.  The 
conditions  under  which  castling  are  al- 
lowed are: 

(1)   That  neither  King  nor  Rook  has 
been  moved. 


30  HOW  TO  PLAY  C 

(2)  That  no  Pieces  or  Pawns  inter- 
vene. 

(3)  That  the  King  is  not  in  check. 

(4)  That  the  King  does  not  have  to 
cross  and  does  not  move  to  a  square  com- 
manded by  an  opposing  Piece  or  Pawn. 

Center.  Pawns  in  the  middle  field,  es- 
pecially if  well  supported.  It  is  usually  a 
great  object  to  keep  the  center  intact,  or 
unbroken  and  to  break  the  center  of  the 
adversary  if  it  be  stronger. 

Check.  The  warning  which  must  be 
given  when  the  adversary's  King  is  at- 
tacked. In  such  a  case,  the  King  is  said 
to  be  "  in  check  "  and  the  threatened  cap- 
ture must  be  avoided  by : 

(1)  Taking   the    attacking    Piece     or 
Pawn. 

(2)  Moving  the  King. 

(3)  Interposing    or    moving     another 
Piece  or  Pawn  between  the  King  and  the 
attacking  Piece  or  Pawn. 

For  example,  if  the  White  King  stands 
on  QR4  and  the  Black  Queen's  Eook 
stands  on  QE8,  then  the  White  King  is 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  EXPLAINED       31 

in  check  by  the  Black  Rook.  White  may 
avoid  the  check  by  moving  his  King  to 
QKt3,  QKt4  or  QKt5;  or  he  may  take 
the  attacking  Piece  with  his  Bishop  sup- 
posing it  to  be  on  Q4,  in  a  diagonal  line 
with  the  square  occupied  by  the  attacking 
Eook. 

^Checkmate,  or  Mate.  A  position  in 
which  the  King  cannot  by  any  means  avoid 
being  captured  by  the  opposing  force.  An 
example  of  simple  checkmate  is  shown  in 
DIAGRAM  ix.  The  student  will  see  that 
if  the  White  King  remains  where  he 
is  he  can  be  taken  by  the  Black  Knight; 
if  he  moves  to  KBSq.  or  KKt2,  he  can  be 
taken  by  the  Black  Bishop  as  both  of  those 
squares  are  commanded  by  him ;  and  if 
he  moves  into  KR2  again,  he  comes  within 
the  sphere  of  influence  of  the  Black 
Knight  whom  he  is  trying  to  avoid.  Thus, 
it  will  be  seen  that  he  has  no  means  of  es- 
cape. 

Close  Game.  A  game  in  which  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Pieces  is  effected  chiefly 
behind  the  Pawns.  This  method  requires 


32 


HOW  TO  PLAT  CHESS 


the  greatest  accuracy  and  judgment  and 
is  only  adopted  by  the  most  experienced 
players.  (See  Open  Game). 


BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  IX. 
Checkmate. 


Combination.  The  concerted  action  of 
two  or  more  Pieces  for  a  particular  ob- 
ject; two  or  more  moves  for  a  common 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  EXPLAINED       33 

purpose.  Skill  in  making  effective  com- 
binations is  accounted  the  surest  test  of  a 
Chess  player. 

Command.  A  square  is  commanded 
when  any  Piece  or  Pawn  occupying  it  may 
be  attacked.  A  Piece  is  said  to  command 
a  square  when  it  can  move  into  it. 

Counter  Attack.  An  indirect  and  ef- 
fective way  of  neutralizing  an  attack.  For 
example,  a  combination  against  one  King 
may  be  halted  or  destroyed  by  an  equally 
strong  combination  against  the  other;  or 
an  attacked  force  may  be  successfully 
guarded  by  an  attack  upon  an  equal  or 
greater  adverse  Piece  or  Pawn. 

Counter  Gambit.  The  sacrifice  of  some 
part  of  the  second  player's  force,  usually 
a  Pawn,  in  the  opening  of  the  game  to 
obtain  an  advantage  in  position.  (See 
Openings  and  Gambit). 

Debut.     Opening. 

Defence.  The  correlative  of  attack. 
The  second  player,  generally  the  Black,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  game,  is  said  to  have 
the  defence,  as  the  first  player  is  said  to 


34  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

have  the  attack.  Defensive  measures  are 
those  taken  to  provide  against  or  to  repel 
attack.  To  defend  a  Piece  or  Pawn  is  to 
protect  or  support  it  from  or  against  an 
adversary. 

Develop.  To  develop  a  Piece  or  Pawn 
is  to  bring  it  from  the  comparatively  pow- 
erless and  inactive  position  which  it  oc- 
cupies at  the  beginning  of  the  game  to  a 
position  which  is  more  favorable  for  de- 
fence or  attack.  To  develop  a  game  is  to 
bring  all  or  nearly  all  of  the  Pieces  and 
Pawns  into  positions  of  defence  or  attack. 

Development.  The  early  positions  of 
the  forces  for  defence  or  attack.  In  a 
good  or  strong  development,  the  forces  co- 
operate without  much  obstruction.  In  a 
bad  or  weak  development,  there  is  need- 
less obstruction  and  lack  of  co-operation 
which  frequently  leads  to  a  permanent  dis- 
advantage. 

Discovered  Check.  An  attack  opened 
upon  the  King  by  the  removal  of  an  inter- 
vening Piece  or  Pawn.  For  example:  If 
the  Black  King  occupies  KKtY,  the  White 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  EXPLAINED       35 

Bisliop  occupies  KKt5,  and  the  White 
Queen  occupies  KKt8,  by  removing  the 
Bishop  the  file  is  opened  to  the  Queen 
and  the  adverse  King  is  attacked.  Mov- 
ing the  Bishop  is  said  to  "  discover 
check." 

Double  Check.  The  simultaneous  at- 
tack, by  two  Pieces,  upon  the  King. 

Double  Pawn.  Two  Pawns  on  the  same 
file. 

End  Game.  The  stage  at  which  the 
forces  of  both  sides  have  become  so  re- 
duced that  theoretical  analysis  is-  again 
possible.  A  complete  and  perfect  game  of 
Chess  is  divided  into  three  parts: 

(a)  The  Opening. 

(b)  The  Middle  Game. 

(c)  The  End  Game. 

Each  of  these  will  be  discussed  at  length 
in  later  chapters. 

En  Passant.  Taken  in  passing.  If  a 
Pawn,  in  its  first  move,  passes  an  adverse 
Pawn  the  latter,  in  its  next  move  only, 
may  capture  it  en  passant  as  if  it  had 
moved  only  one  square.  Thus  if  there  is 


36  BOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

a  White  Pawn  on  Q5  and  Black  Pawns 
on  QB2  and  K2,  and  either  of  the  Black 
Pawns  moves  two  squares,  to  QB4  or  K4, 
it  may  be  captured  en  passant  by  the 
White  Pawn. 

En  Prise.  A  Piece  or  Pawn  is  en  prise 
when  it  is  not  fully  defended  and  can  be 
taken  by  the  adversary.  The  term  is  used 
with  reference  to  everything  but  the  King 
and  corresponds  with  check  or  checkmate. 
A  Piece  or  Pawn  is  en  prise,  while  the 
King  is  in  check. 

Establish.  A  Piece  or  Pawn  is  estab- 
lished when  it  occupies  a  position  from 
which  it  cannot  be  dislodged,  and  whence 
it  exercises  a  direct  influence  upon  the  op- 
posing force. 

Exchange.  To  take  force  for  force.  In 
it  there  may  be  equality  or  relative  gain 
or  loss.  *  To  win  an  exchange  is  to  capture 
a  Rook  in  return  for  the  loss  of  a  Knight 
or  a  Bishop.  To  lose  an  exchange  is  to 
capture  a  Bishop  or  Knight  in  exchange 
for  a  Eook. 

False  Move.     A  move  that  is  eontradic- 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  EXPLAINED        37 

tory  to  the  fundamental  laws  of  Chess. 
For  example,  to  move  a  Bishop  like  a 
King,  or  a  Queen  like  a  Knight,  is  a  false 
move  and  subjects  the  player  to  certain 
penalties. 

Files.  The  rows  of  squares  across  the 
board,  from  one  player  to  another  and  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Ranks  which  are  the 
horizontal  rows  of  squares.  The  files  are 
named  after  the  Pieces  which  occupy  them 
at  the  beginning  of  the  game.  Thus,  from 
White's  side  beginning  at  the  right,  we 
have  the  King's  Rook's  file,  the  King's 
Knight's  file,  the  King's  Bishop's  file  and 
the  King's  file,  and  so  on  across  to  the 
Queen's  Rook's  file.  (See  Ranks). 

Force.  A  term  used  to  refer  to  a  Piece 
or  Pawn. 

Fork.  The  attack  by  a  Knight  upon 
two  adverse  Pieces  or  Pawns.  It  is  also 
used  to  describe  the  double  attack  of  a 
Queen,  Bishop  or  Pawn.  A  common  and 
fatal  example  of  a  fork  is  found  when  the 
White  Knight  occupies  K3,  and  the  Black 
King  occupies  KB8,  and  the  Black  Queen, 


38  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

KKt5.  The  King,  being  in  check,  must 
move,  which  leaves  the  Queen  at  the  mercy 
of  the  adverse  Knight. 

Gambit.  A  voluntary  surrender,  or 
proffer,  of  a  Piece  or  Pawn  by  the  first 
player  at  the  early  part  of  the  game,  with 
a  view  to  subsequent  advantage. 

Game.  In  addition  to  its  ordinary 
meaning  the  term  has  a  technical  mean- 
ing which  is  explained  under  "  Opening." 

Interpose.  To  move  a  Piece  or  Pawn 
between  an  attacked  and  attacking  Piece 
or  Pawn.  The  term  is  frequently  used  in 
connection  with  the  King.  When  he  is  in 
check,  and  a  Piece  or  Pawn  is  placed  be- 
tween him  and  the  attacking  Piece  or 
Pawn,  that  Piece  or  Pawn  is  said  to  be 
"  interposed." 

Illegal  Move.  A  move  which,  while 
not  in  opposition  to  the  fundamental  laws 
of  movement,  is  still  contradictory  to  the 
ordinary  rules  of  play,  under  the  particu- 
lar circumstances  of  the  case,  such  as  mov- 
ing out  of  turn ;  moving  an  adverse  Piece 
or  Pawn ;  castling  to  avoid  check,  or  cast- 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  EXPLAINED       39 

ling  after  the  King  or  Rook  has  been 
moved. 

Isolated  Pawn.  A  Pawn  is  said  to  be 
isolated  when  there  are  no  Pawns  of  the 
same  color  on  the  adjoining  files. 

J'adoube.  The  French  for  "  I  ad- 
just"; an  expression  that  is  used  by  a 
player  when  he  wishes  to  touch  a  man 
that  he  does  not  intend  to  play  or  to  take. 
Without  this  declaration,  the  Piece  or 
Pawn  touched  must  be  moved  or  captured 
in  the  player's  next  turn  if  the  conditions 
permit. 

Man.  The  generic  name  for  any  Chess 
figure  or  force,  including  the  Pieces  and 
Pawns.  There  are  thirty-two  Chessmen, 
sixteen  Pieces  and  sixteen  Pawns,  as  al- 
ready stated. 

Mate.     See  "  Checkmate." 

Mating  Force.  Any  force  that  is  suffi- 
cient to  mate  the  lone  King;  such  as  the 
Queen  or  Rook. 

Middle  Game,  or  Mid-Game.  That 
stage  of  a  game  when  the  Pieces  and 
Pawns  are  all,  or  nearly  all,  ready  for 


40  HOW  TO  PLAY  CLLEtiti 

action;  and  said  to  begin  when  theoretical 
analysis  ends.  Many  of  the  most  bril- 
liantly played  games  are  brought  to  a  fin- 
ish in  the  "  Middle  Game/'  before  "  End 
Game  "  positions  are  reached. 

Minor  Piece.  The  Bishop  or  Knight 
in  contradistinction  to  the  more  valuable 
mating  forces  such  as  the  Queen  or  Rook. 

Move.  The  person  who  begins  the 
game  has  the  move ;  a  slight  but  uncertain 
advantage.  The  term  is  also  used  with 
reference  to  the  person  whose  turn  it  is  to 
play,  when  a  critical  stage  of  the  game  is 
reached,  and  the  issues  have  been  fairly 
joined,  or  the  contest  is  drawing  to  a  close. 
In  such  a  case  the  person  who  plays  next 
has  the  move. 

Notation.  The  system  or  method  of  re- 
cording the  moves  of  a  game. 

Odds.  An  initiary  advantage  conceded 
to  a  weaker  player  by  a  stronger  one. 
All  important  Chess  clubs  have  a  carefully 
graded  scale  of  odds,  marking  the  classes 
of  players.  A  common  gradation  is  given 
in  the  following: — 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  EXPLAINED       41 

(1)  Pawn  and  move.     (When  a  Pawn 
is  conceded  the  KBP  is  understood  unless 
another  is  specified.)     The  player  giving 
the  odds  takes  his  KBP  off  the  board  and 
his  adversary  has  the  first  move. 

(2)  Pawn  and  two  moves.     The  player 
giving  the  odds  takes  off  his  KBP  as  be- 
fore and  his  opponent  has  the  first  two 
successive  moves. 

(3)  Knight. 

(4)  Kook. 

(5)  Two  minor  Pieces. 

(6)  Queen. 

Open  File.  A  file  having  all  of  its 
squares  unoccupied. 

Open  Game.  A  game  in  which  the  de- 
velopment of  the  Pieces  is  accomplished 
in  advance  of  the  Pawns.  Moving  the 
KP  to  K4  as  a  first  move  on  both  sides 
generally  leads  to  an  open  game,  but  open 
games  depend  upon  the  positions  resulting 
from  the  openings,  irrespective  of  the  first 
moves. 

Openings.  The  first  few  moves  in  a 
game,  or  those  by  which  the  Pieces  and 


42  HOW  TO  PL A^  CUEtiti 

Pawns  are  liberated  and  arranged  for  ac- 
tion against  the  enemy.  Openings  have 
been  a  study  of  all  skilled  Chess  players 
and  are  a  subject  of  keen  controversy. 
Those  which  are  not  given  in  standard 
works  on  the  subject,  or  are  not  classics, 
are  called  "  Irregular  Openings."  Open- 
ings are  known  as : — 

(1)  Games,  when  neither  player  makes 
any  concession  or  offers  his  adversary  any 
initial  advantage. 

(2)  Gambits,    when    the    first    player 
voluntarily   gives   up    some   part    of    his 
forces,  generally  a  Pawn,  for  the  sake  of 
obtaining  an  advantage  in  position. 

(3)  Counter-gambits,   when   the   sacri- 
fice is  made  by  the  second  player. 

(4)  Defences,  when  the  moves  of  the 
second  player  give  the  game  its  distinctive 
character. 

All  recognized  openings  have  some  dis- 
tinguishing name,  generally  one  that  is 
associated  with  some  notable  chess  player 
or  one  that  is  identical  with  that  of  the 
inventor  of  the  particular  opening.  Dif- 


TECHNICAL  TERMti  EXPLAINED        43 

f  ercnt  openings  will  be  discussed  at  length, 
in  a  later  chapter. 

Opposition.  The  possession,  by  the 
King,  of  a  certain  key  square  which  forces 
the  adverse  King  to  take  up  a  less  favor- 
able position.  If  the  White  King  stands 
on  K3,  and  the  Black  King  on  K8,  then 
the  King  who  has  the  move  loses  the  op- 
position. The  value  of  the  opposition  de- 
pends upon  the  number,  value  and  posi- 
tion of  the  other  Pieces  and  Pawns  upon 
the  board,  but  the  student  can  not  be  ex- 
pected to  understand  it  until  he  has  at- 
tained some  skill  in  playing  the  game.  r 

Passed  Pawn.  One  that  has  no  adverse 
Pawn  in  front  of  it,  either  on  its  own  file 
or  on  one  of  the  adjoining  files. 

Pawns.  The  name  given  to  the  in- 
ferior Chessmen  which  stand  on  the  sec- 
ond rank  at  the  beginning  of  the  game. 

Perpetual  Check.  A  position  in  which 
the  King  finds,  that  by  avoiding  one 
check,  he  renders  himself  liable  to  another 
— a  series  of  checks  from  which  he  cannot 
escape.  For  example ;  If  the  Black  King 


44:  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

occupies  KRSq.,  and  the  White  Queen  oc- 
cupies K8,  then  the  Black  King  is  in  per- 
petual check,  for  he  can  only  move  one 
square  at  a  time.  To  avoid  the  check  he 
must  move  to  KR2  whereupon  the  White 
Queen  moves  to  KE5,  again  giving  check. 
The  King  then  moves  to  KKtsq.  and  the 
Queen  again  checks  him  from  K8.  Thus 
the  check  continues  to  be  perpetual  wher- 
ever he  moves.  In  all  cases  of  perpetual 
check  the  game  is  drawn. 

Pieces.  The  name  given  to  the  Chess- 
men of  superior  value  which  stand  on  the 
first  rank  at  the  beginning  of  the  game. 
The  term  is  also  used  by  some  authorities 
to  refer  to  all  the  chessmen,  including  the 
Pawns. 

Pin.  A  force  is  said  to  be  pinned  when 
it  cannot  move  without  exposing  a  more 
valuable  Piece  to  attack  from  the  enemy. 
The  term  is  generally  used  with  reference 
to  a  Piece  or  Pawn  that  is  protecting  a 
King  or  Queen. 

Pion  Coiffe,  or  Narked  Pawn.  A  de- 
scription of  odds  that  is  rarely  given,  and 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  EXPLAINED        45 

only  when  one  player  is  much  more  skilled 
than  the  other.  The  superior  player  puts 
a  cap  or  ring  on  one  of  his  Pawns,  gener- 
ally the  KKtP,  and  undertakes  to  check- 
mate the  adverse  King  with  that  partic- 
ular Pawn.  He  is  not  allowed  to  Queen 
it,  and  if  he  loses  it  or  checkmates  with 
any  other  Piece  or  Pawn  he  loses  the 
game. 

Position.  The  situation  of  the  Pieces 
and  Pawns  in  general  at  any  given  stage 
of  the  game.  The  relative  situation  of 
the  forces  on  either  side,  as  between  them- 
selves, and  as  they  are  disposed  with  refer- 
ence to  the  enemy.  A  player  has  a  good 
position  when  his  forces  have  free  scope 
for  action,  and  can  be  combined  for  de- 
fence or  attack.  A  player  has  a  poor  po- 
sition when  his  Pieces  and  Pawns  are 
hampered  and  when  they  cannot  support 
one  another  for  defence  or  attack. 

Problem.  An  imaginary  position  in 
which  the  correct  line  of  play  is  concealed 
and  has  to  be  discovered,  under  different 


46  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

conditions.     Problems    may    be     divided 
into  two  classes: 

(1)  Direct  mate,  in  which  White  mov- 
ing first  has  to  force  a   checkmate  in   a 
given    number    of   moves,    generally    two, 
three,  or  four. 

(2)  Suimate,  in  which  White,  playing 
first,  has  to  force  Black  to  checkmate  him 
in  a  given  number  of  moves. 

Problems  involving  other  conditions  are 
known  as  puzzles. 

Protect.  To  guard  or  support  a  Piece 
by  the  interposition  of  another  force  be- 
tween the  Piece  attacked  and  the  attacking 
Piece.  A  superior  force  is  protected  or 
covered  from  attack  by  an  inferior  one. 

Queening  a  Pawn  or  Advancing  a  Pawn 
to  Queen.  When  a  player  has  advanced  a 
Pawn  to  the  eighth,  or  last,  square  of  a 
file,  it  assumes  the  rank  and  power  of  a 
Queen  or  any  other  Piece,  excepting  a 
King,  that  the  player  chooses,  in  which 
case  he  is  said  to  have  Queened  a  Pawn. 

Ranks.  The  horizontal  rows  of  squjuvs 
across  the  board,  from  one  side  to  the 


TECHNICAL  TERMS  EXPLAINED       47 

other.  They  are  numbered  from  one  (1) 
to  eight  (8),  each  player  counting  from 
his  own  side  of  the  board.  (See  File). 

Sacrifice.  The  voluntary  loss  of  a 
Piece  or  Pawn  in  order  to  obtain  a  later 
and  more  decisive  advantage. 

Sans  Voir.     See  Blindfold  Chess. 

Smothered  Mate.  A  checkmate  some- 
times given  by  the  Knight  when  the  ad- 
verse King  is  hemmed  in,  or  smothered, 
by  his  own  forces. 

Stalemate.  A  position  in  which  a 
player  cannot  make  any  legal  move,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  the  game  is  considered 
drawn.  For  example:  Suppose  Black 
still  has  a  King  and  a  Rook  on  the  board, 
and  White  has  a  King  and  a  Queen. 
Black's  King  stands  on  QR  and  his  Rook 
on  QB2 ;  while  White's  King  is  on  QB3 
and  his  Queen  on  QB4.  It  is  White's 
move,  but  if  he  takes  his  Queen  from  in 
front  of  his  King,  he  exposes  it  to  check 
from  the  adversary's  Rook.  If  he  moves 
the  King,  then  his  Queen  will  be  cap- 
tured and  the  game  will  have  to  be  drawn, 


48  now  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

and  if  lie  takes  Black's  Rook  with  the 
Queen,  then  the  adverse  King  will  be 
placed  in  a  similar  position,  i.  e.,  stale- 
mate. 

Support.  A  force  is  supported  when  it 
is  within  the  range  of  another  of  the  same 
color  that  would  be  in  a  position  to  cap- 
ture it  were  it  an  enemy.  An  attacking 
force  is  supported  by  another  Piece  or 
Pawn  which  commands  the  square  or  po- 
sition attacked. 

Take.     To  capture. 

Time.  A  condition  of  modern  match 
and  tournament  play  which  requires  that 
each  player  shall  make  a  given  number  of 
moves  within  a  specified  time ;  generally 
from  fifteen  to  twenty  moves  per  hour. 

To  Play.  To  move.  White's  turn  to 
play  means  that  it  is  his  turn  to  move. 

Wings.  The  extreme  flanks  to  right 
and  left  in  advance  on  the  enemy's  ground. 
From  White's  side  of  the  board  the  ex- 
treme right  is  the  King's  Wing  and  the 
extreme  left,  the  Queen's  Wing. 


CHAPTER  VI 

CHESS    RULES 

I.  The  board  must  be  so  placed  between 
the  two   players,   that  each  has   a  white 
square  at  his  right  hand  corner. 

II.  If  a  board  is  incorrectly  arranged 
it  may  be  adjusted,  provided  the  error  is 
discovered  before  either  of  the  players  has 
made  more  than  three  moves.    When  more 
than  three  moves  have  been  made  on  either 
side,  the  players  must  continue  the  game 
without    correcting    the    position    of    the 
Board. 

III.  The  chessmen  must  be  of  a  pat- 
tern in  general  use  and  any  player  may 
object  to  playing  with  men  of  a  foreign 
design,  provided  the  objection  is  made  be- 
fore the  first  move.     A  game  once  begun 
must  be  completed  with  the  same  set  of 
men. 

49 


50  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

IV.  If,  at  any  stage  of  the  game,  either 
player  discovers  that  a  Piece  or  Pawn  has 
been  omitted  or  wrongly  placed  in  setting 
up  the  board,  the  game  must  be  annulled, 
no  matter  how  far  it  may  have  progressed. 

V.  The  choice  of  color  with  which  each 
person  plays  is  decided  by  drawing  lots; 
and  the  person  who  draws  the  White  men 
is  entitled  to  the  first  move  unless  other- 
wise agreed.    In  a  match  or  series  of  games 
between  the  same  players,  each  retains  the 
color  which  he  drew  for  the  first  game, 
but  the  first  move  of  each  successive  game 
alternates  between  them.    If  a  game  is  an- 
nulled, however,  the  person  who  opened 
that  game  has  the  privilege  of  making  the 
first  move  in  the  next  game. 

VII.  When  odds   are  given,  the  odds- 
giver  has  the  choice  of  men  and  the  first 
move  in  each  game  unless  otherwise  agreed. 

VIII.  The    players    move    alternately, 
one  Piece  or  Pawn  at  a  time,  except  in 
castling;    and   in   no   case  does   a   player 
make  two  moves  in  succession,  unless  they 
are  given  as  odds. 


CHESS  RULES  51 

IX.  If  a  player  touch  one  of  his  own 
Pieces  or  Pawns,  he  must  move  it,  if  he 
can  do  so  legally.  If  he  cannot  legally 
move  it,  he  must  move  his  King.  If  a 
player  touch  more  than  one  of  his  own 
Pieces  or  Pawns,  he  must  move  any  one  of 
them  which  his  opponent  may  select;  if 
none  of  them  can  be  legally  moved,  he 
must  move  his  King. 

If  a  player  touch  one  of  his  opponents 
Pieces  or  Pawns,  he  must  take  it  if  it  can 
be  taken  legally;  but  if  he  cannot  take  it 
legally,  he  must  move  his  King.  If  a 
player  touch  more  than  one  of  his  oppo- 
nent's Pieces  or  Pawns,  he  must  take  any 
one  of  them  which  his  opponent  may  se- 
lect; or  if  none  of  them  can  be  taken  le- 
gally, he  must  move  his  King.  The  touch- 
ing of  a  force  implies  an  intention  to  move 
or  lake  it,  according  as  it  is  the  player's 
own  or  his  opponents;  but  if  a  player 
wishes  to  touch  a  Piece  or  Pawn  for  the 
purpose  of  adjusting  it  on  the  board,  etc., 
lie  must  make  his  intention  clear  by  say- 
ing "  PADOUBE,"  or  words  to  that  effect, 


52  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

before  touching  it.  It  must  also  be  under- 
stood, that  in  compelling  a  player  to  move 
a  particular  Piece,  the  opponent  can  only 
indicate  the  Piece  to  be  moved,  not  the  par- 
ticular move  it  shall  make. 

X.  A  legal  move  is  complete  and  irre- 
vocable when   the   player  making   it  has 
ceased  to  touch  the  man  moved,  but   as 
long  as  his  hand  remains  in  contact  with 
it,  he  may  move  it  to  any  square  which  it 
commands  and  which  he  has  not  touched 
with  it  during  his  deliberation.     If  a  play- 
er after  taking  hold  of  a  Piece  or  Pawn 
touches  with  it  all  the  squares  which  it 
commands,  he  must  move  it  to  any  one  of 
them  which  his  adversary  may  select. 

XI.  A   Pawn   on   reaching   the  eighth 
rank  must  be  queened  or  exchanged  for 
any  other  Piece,  except  a  King,  that  the 
player  may  select;   and  the  move  is  not 
complete  until  the  player  has  made  the 
exchange. 

XII.  Each  player  may  castle  once  dur- 
ing a  game  with  either  his  King's  Eook  or 


CHESS  RULES  53 

his  Queen's  Rook  under  the  following  con- 
ditions : — 

(a)  If  neither  his  King  nor  the  Rook 
with  which  he  intends  to  castle  has  been 
moved. 

(b)  If  the  squares  between  the  King 
and  Rook  are  unoccupied. 

(c)  If  the  King  is  not  in  check. 

(d)  If  the  King  in  moving  does  not 
cross  a  square  commanded  by  any  opposing 
man. 

A  player  must  make  evident  his  inten- 
tion to  castle  by  either : 

(a)  Moving  his  King  first,  or 

(b)  Moving  King   and   Rook  simulta- 
neously. 

XIII.  The  capture  of  a  Pawn  en  pas- 
sant is  a  forced  move  if  no  other  move  is 
possible. 

XIV.  If  a  player  makes  a  false  or  il- 
legal move  when  it  is  his  turn  to  play,  he 
must  retract  it  and  make  a  legal  move  or 
move  his  King  as  his  opponent  may  select. 
If  he  captures  a  Piece  or  Pawn  belonging 
to  his  adversary  in  an  illegal  or  false  move, 


54  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHE 88 

he  must  take  that  Piece  or  Pawn  legally 
or  move  his  King  as  his  adversary  may 
select, 

XV.  Moving  out  of  turn  is  an  illegal 
move. 

XVI.  If  a  player,  in  attacking  his  ad- 
versary, fails  to  call  "  Check/'  he  cannot 
exact  any  penalty  if  his  opponent  fails  to 
notice  the  check. 

XVII.  When  check  is  given,  any  move 
made  by   the   player,   whose   King  is   in 
check,   is   illegal  if  it  does  not  stop  the 
check. 

XVIII.  If  a  false  or  illegal  move  is 
found  to  have  been  made,  in  a  game,  all 
subsequent  moves  must  be  retracted,  and 
a  proper  move  made,  after  which  the  game 
proceeds  as  if  no  error  had  been  mad?. 
But  if  the  source  of  the  manifest  illegal 
or  false  move  cannot  be  traced,  then  the 
game  must  be  annulled. 

XIX.  In  the  case  of  a  dispute  between 
the  players,  if  the  question  is  one  of  fact, 
it  must  be  referred  to  a  bystander  or  um- 
pire ;  and  if  it  is  a  question  of  law  it  must 


CHE88  RULES  55 

be  referred  to  any  acknowledged  author- 
ity on  the  game.  The  decision,  in  either 
case,  must  be  final  and  accepted  by  both 
players. 

XX.  Bystanders  or  umpires  are  not  al- 
lowed to  interfere  in  a  game  of  Chess  or 
with  the  players,  except  under  the  follow- 
ing conditions : — 

(a)  When  appealed  to  to  settle  a  ques- 
tion of  fact. 

(b)  When  a  Piece  or  Pawn  has  been 
omitted   or   misplaced   in   setting  up   the 
Board. 

(c)  When  a  false  or  illegal  move  has 
been  made,  but  only  after  another  move 
has  been  made  to  allow  the  players  time 
to  discover  the  error. 

XXI.  If  a  bystander   interferes  in   a 
game,  or  gives  advice  to  either  player  as 
to  his  move,  or  cautions  or  encourages  him 
in  any  way  by  voice  or  gesture,  the  game 
must  be  annulled. 

XXII.  If  a  player  waives  his  right  to 
impose  a  penalty  or  agrees  to  depart  from 
the  rules  of  the  game,  he  cannot  demand  a 


56  UOW  TO  PLAY  CHEtiS 

like  concession  from  his  adversary.  A 
player  cannot  impose  a  penalty  after  he 
has  made  his  own  next  move  or  touched  a 
Piece  or  Pawn  in  reply  to  the  illegal  or 
false  move  of  his  adversary. 

XXIII.  When  a  Piece  or  Pawn  touched 
cannot  be  legally  moved,   and   when   the 
King  cannot  be  legally  moved,  no  penalty 
can  be  exacted. 

XXIV.  When  the  King  is  moved  as  a 
penalty,  he  cannot  be  castled. 

'XXV.  When  a  game  is  played  by  time, 
and  when  a  player  is  considering  what  pen- 
alty to  inflict,  the  time  shall  be  counted 
against  him  and  not  against  his  adversary. 

XXVI.  Each  player  must  make  a  given 
number    of    moves    (generally    eighteen) 
within  an  hour,  which  is  arranged  for  at 
the  beginning  of  the  game,  and  if  a  player 
fails  to  make  the  given  number  of  moves 
within  the  specified  time  he  forfeits  the 
game. 

XXVII.  Each  player  must  keep  his  ad- 
versary's  time,  but  he   is  not  obliged   to 


CHEMti  RULES  57 

give  his  adversary  any  information  con- 
cerning it. 

XXVIII.  A  player  loses  a  game: — 

(a)  When  a  dispute  arises  and  he  re- 
fuses to  accept  the  opinion  of  a  bystander 
or  umpire,  or  that  of  a  recognized  author- 
ity. 

(b)  When  he  ceases  to  play  and  fails  to 
resume  within  a  reasonable  time. 

(c)  When  he  wilfully  disarranges  the 
men  or  upsets  the  board. 

XXIX.  A  player  may  claim  a  draw : — 

(a)  When  the  same  move,  or  series  of 
moves,  has  been  repeated  three  times. 

(b)  When   the    same   position   has   oc- 
curred three  times,  it  being  the  same  play- 
er's turn  to  move  each  time. 

(c)  When,  after  fifty  moves,  no  Piece 
or  Pawn  has  been  captured  by  either  side. 

RULES  WHEN  ODDS  ARE  GIVEN. 

XXX.  The  player  giving  odds   is  en- 
titled to  the  choice  of  color  and  to  the  first 
move  unless  otherwise  agreed. 


58  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

XXXI.  When  a  Pawn  is  given  as  odds 
it  is  to  be  the  King's  Bishop's  Pawn. 

XXXII.  The     player     receiving     the 
odds  of  a  move  or  moves  must  not  play 
any   Piece   or   Pawn   beyond   the   fourth 
rank,  or  beyond  the  middle  of  the  board, 
before  his  adversary  has  made  a  move. 

XXXIII.  A  player  giving  the  odds  of 
the  exchange  may  remove  whichever  Hook 
he  may  select,  and  he  may  also  call  upon 
his  opponent  to  remove  either  Knight  or 
Bishop. 

XXXIV.  A    player   receiving   two    or 
more  moves  as  odds  must  make  those  moves 
at  once  and  they  are  to  be  counted  collec- 
tively as  if  they  were  his  first  move. 

XXXV.  A  player  giving  a  Knight  or 
Book,  or  two  minor  Pieces,  as  odds,  may 
remove    whichever    Knight    or    Book    or 
minor  Pieces  he  may  choose. 

XXXVI.  A  player  giving  a  Book  as 
odds  cannot  castle  on  the  side  from  which 
the  Book  was  taken. 

XXXVII.  When  a  player  undertakes 


CHEtiti  RULES  59 

to  mate  with  a  particular  Pawn,  he  may 
not  Queen  it. 

XXXVIII.  When  a  player  undertakes 
to  mate  on  a  particular  square,  his  adver- 
sary's King  must  be  on  the  square  in  ques- 
tion when  it  is  mated. 

XXXIX.  If    a    player   undertakes    to 
win  a  game  in  a  particular  way,  he  is  to  be 
adjudged  the  loser  if  he  wins  it  in  any 
other  way,  or  if  the  game  is  drawn. 

(The  rules  for  ordinary  play  apply  when 
odds  are  given  unless  they  are  obviously 
inapplicable). 

RULES  FOB  PLAY  BY  CONSULTATION. 

XL.  Each  player  is  bound  by  the  move 
communicated  to  the  adversary,  whether 
such  move  be  declared  by  word  of  mouth, 
in  writing,  or  be  made  on  the  adversary's 
board. 

XLI.  If  the  move  communicated  dif- 
fer from  that  made  on  the  player's  own 
board,  the  latter  must  be  altered. 

XLII.  If  a  move,  as  communicated, 
admit  of  more  than  one  interpretation,  the 


60  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

adversary  may  adopt  whichever  interpreta- 
tion he  chooses.  He  must,  however,  before 
making  his  move,  announce  which  inter- 
pretation he  adopts,  otherwise  the  move  is 
to  be  interpreted  according  to  the  inten- 
tion of  the  player  making  it. 

XLIII.  A  player  moving  more  than  one 
man  (except  in  castling)  or  moving  a  man 
when  it  is  not  his  turn  to  play,  shall  for* 
f  eit  the  game. 

XLIV.  If  either  player  permit  a  by- 
stander to  take  part  in  a  consultation  game, 
the  adversary  may  claim  a  win. 

XLV.  If  any  bystander  interfere  by 
sign,  word,  or  gesture,  in  a  consultation 
game,  such  game  shall  be  null  and  void. 

(The  rules  of  ordinary  play  also  apply 
to  consultation  play  unless  obviously  inap- 
plicable). 

RULES  FOB  PLAY  BY  CORRESPONDENCE, 

XLVI.  An  umpire  or  referee  shall  be 
appointed  whose  decision  shall  be  final 
upon  all  questions  submitted  to  him. 

XLVIL  A  move  is  final  and  cannot  be 


CHESS  RULES  61 

recalled  when  dispatched  by  the  medium 
agreed  upon  before  the  beginning  of  the 
game.  If  it  is  a  false  or  illegal  move,  the 
person  making  it  is  subject  to  the  same 
penalties  that  he  would  be  subjected  to 
were  he  playing  over  the  board. 

XLVIII.  If  a  move  is  sent  in  such  a 
way  that  it  admits  of  more  than  one  in- 
terpretation, the  adversary  may  interpret 
it  to  suit  himself.  When  sending  his  own 
move  in  return,  however,  he  must  state 
which  interpretation  he  used,  otherwise 
the  move  must  be  made  according  to  the 
intention  of  the  sender. 

XLIX.  A  player  is  not  obliged  to  send 
more  than  one  move  at  a  time,  and  if  he 
does  he  must  abide  by  those  moves  if  they 
are  legal,  and  if  not  he  must  pay  the  pen- 
alties for  false  or  illegal  moves. 

L.  When  no  penalty  for  delay  has  been 
agreed  upon,  the  person  who  fails  to  send 
his  move  on  or  before  the  appointed  time 
forfeits  the  game. 

LI.  If  a  player  accepts  assistance  other 
than  that  which  may  have  been  agreed 


62  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

upon  at  the  beginning  of  the  game,  he 
loses  the  game. 

LIT.  If  a  player  sends  an  unintelligible 
move,  he  is  subject  to  the  same  penalty  that 
he  would  have  to  pay  if  he  did  not  send 
any  move  at  all;  but  the  opponent  must 
announce  to  the  umpire  that  the  move  in 
question  is  not  intelligible. 

(The  rules  for  ordinary  play  also  apply 
to  play  by  correspondence  unless  obviously 
inapplicable). 


CHAPTER  VII 

SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BEGINNERS 

When  the  beginner  is  familiar  with  the 
rules  of  Chess,  with  the  moves  of  the  vari- 
ous Pieces  and  Pawns,  and  understands 
the  meanings  of  the  technical  terms  used 
in  playing  the  game,  he  is  ready  to  put 
into  practice  what  he  has  learned.  But 
before  beginning  the  first  game,  there  are 
a  few  general  suggestions  which  he  will 
find  helpful  until  he  has  acquired  suffi- 
cient skill  to  develop  a  system  of  play  for 
himself.  In  Chess,  as  in  everything  else, 
there  are  exceptions  where  hard  and  fast 
rules  cannot  always  be  followed. 

FAMILIARITY  WITH  TECHNICAL  TERMS. 

Experienced  players  of  all  games  use 
technical  terms  with  a  facility  that  is  awe- 
inspiring  to  the  beginner;  and  his  ignor- 
63 


64  HOW  TO  PLAT  CHESS 

ance  of  their  meanings  often  causes  him 
much  embarrassment,  to  say  nothing  of 
poor  playing.  For  this  reason  the  student 
should  become  thoroughly  familiar  with 
the  language  of  Chess,  studying  the  defini- 
tions of  the  technical  terms  and  illustrat- 
ing the  positions  on  the  Chessboard. 

The  use  of  the  board  in  studying  the 
terms  cannot  be  too  strongly  urged,  for 
only  in  this  way  can  a  player  recognize 
the  character  of  the  moves  when  he  puts 
his  study  into  practice.  Then  when  he  is 
a  spectator  of  a  game  played  by  persons 
of  experience  —  and  much  can  be  learned 
by  observation  —  he  will  be  familiar  with 
the  technical  terms  which  apply  to  the 
various  positions  resulting  from  the 
moves. 

PLAYING  WITH  EITHER  COLOR. 

The  student  must  learn  to  play  with 
both  the  White  and  the  Black  men,  thus 
being  able  to  play  a  game  of  defence  or  at- 
tack. In  most  books  on  the  subject  of 
Chess,  it  is  generally  understood  that  the 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BEGINNERS    65 

student  plays  with  the  White  men,  but  this 
is  a  mistake,  for  when  he  comes  to  lay 
aside  his  textbook  and  play  with  someone 
else,  he  may  draw  the  Black  men  which 
puts  him  at  a  disadvantage,  and  he  is  like- 
ly to  make  moves  that  are  favorable  to  his 
opponent  with  the  idea  that  the  White  men 
must  win.  He  is,  also,  liable  to  move  a 
White  man  by  mistake  and  then  he  must 
pay  the  penalty  of  a  false  move.  He  will 
find  it  helpful  to  substitute  Black  men  for 
White  men  in  illustrative  moves,  and  fig- 
ure out  for  himself  to  which  square  a 
Black  Piece  or  Pawn  should  move  figuring 
from  Black's  side. 

VALUE  OF  PRACTICING  ONE  GAME. 

Until  a  person  has  become  a  really  sci- 
entific Chess  player,  he  cannot  be  expected 
to  know  all  the  different  games ;  and  as  a 
little  knowledge  on  many  subjects  is  dan- 
gerous, the  student  will  find  it  very  help- 
ful to  play  one  game  over  and  over,  pref- 
erably, of  course,  some  match  or  tourna- 
ment game,  until  he  is  familiar  with- every 


66  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

move  and  with  the  reasoning  that  prompt- 
ed it.  In  this  connection,  he  will  do  well 
to  try  varying  the  moves  and  seeing  the 
results,  as  it  will  help  him  to  understand 
why  the  particular  moves  made  by  the  orig- 
inal players  were  the  only  scientific  ones 
to  make  under  the  circumstances. 

The  student,  when  playing  with  others, 
should  study  a  game  of  his  own  and  play 
it  over  and  over  until  he  has  corrected  all 
of  the  weaknesses  in  his  methods  of  attack 
and  defence ;  and  he  should  study  out  for 
himself  how  to  vary  his  system  of  play  to 
meet  and  conquer  his  opponent.  For  only 
in  this  way  will  he  be  able  to  cope  with 
unexpected  positions  upon  the  Chess- 
board. It  is  very  well  to  follow  the  rules 
and  systems  of  scientific  players,  but  if 
the  student's  opponent  does  not  follow  the 
same  system  and  make  the  correct  moves 
in  return,  the  student's  knowledge  will  be 
of  little  avail  and  luck  may  win  for  the 
ignorant  player  an  advantage  that  rightly 
belonged  to  the  one  who  was  familiar  with 
the  science  of  the  game,  but  who  failed  to 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BEGINNERS   67 

vary  his  general  system  of  play  to  meet 
unexpected  situations.  The  game  of  Chess, 
however,  is  like  a  battle  and  the  general 
who  changes  his  tactics  too  often  suffers  in 
consequence.  The  object  of  the  game  is, 
of  course,  to  checkmate  the  King,  and  be- 
fore the  first  move,  the  player  should  de- 
termine in  his  own  mind  how  he  is  going 
to  do  it  and  then  develop  the  fighting  qual- 
ities of  his  men  accordingly.  Only  in  this 
way  can  the  beginner  ever  expect  to  play 
a  really  scientific  game.  It  is  fatal  to  move 
a  man  without  having  some  object  in  view, 
and  unless  the  other  moves  follow  it  up, 
any  strength  in  position  that  was  gained 
by  that  move  is  of  no  avail. 

PLAYING  BY  TIME. 

In  the  early  days  of  Chess-playing,  peo- 
ple used  to  take  literally  weeks  in  which 
to  make  a  single  move,  as  they  wished  to 
study  every  possible  situation  which  might 
develop  therefrom.  The  Chessboard  would 
become  grey  with  dust  and  all  interest,  as 
far  as  the  spectators  were  concerned,  would 


68  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

be  gone.  To-day,  conditions  have  changed 
and  now  there  is  a  rule  that  each  player 
must  make  a  given  number  of  moves  with- 
in a  certain  period,  and  if  a  player  fails  to 
do  this  he  forfeits  the  game.  For  this  rea- 
son, the  student  should  learn,  from  the 
very  beginning,  to  think  quickly  and  be 
ready  to  make  his  move  when  his  turn 
comes.  Quick  playing  sustains  the  inter- 
est of  the  game  and  adds  to  the  pleasure  of 
the  players,  as  well  as  to  that  of  the  spec- 
tators. 

In  Chess  Clubs  and  in  match  and  tour- 
nament games,  a  system  of  clocks  or 
watches  is  used  so  that  the  length  of  time 
it  takes  each  player  to  make  a  move  can 
be  recorded,  just  as  time  is  taken  in  races 
and  other  contests  of  skill  and  speed.  When 
a  beginner  is  hurried,  however,  he  becomes 
nervous  and  makes  unnecessary  mistakes; 
and  to  avoid  this,  he  should  learn  to  play 
by  time  and  then  he  will  not  be  embar- 
rassed by  keeping  his  opponent  waiting  for 
him  to  make  his  move. 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BEGINNERS    69 

DEVELOPING  THE  GAME, 

In  developing  a  game  of  Chess,  the  be- 
ginner should  remember  this  maxim: 
Move  no  Piece  or  Pawn  twice,  until  each 
has  been  moved  once.  By  following  this 
principle  none  of  the  forces  will  be  need- 
lessly exposed  to  attack  from  the  enemy, 
for  it  is  true  of  Chessmen  that  divided 
they  fall,  and  united  they  stand.  The 
student  should,  also,  develop  his  game  on 
both  wings  —  that  is  on  the  King's  side 
and  on  the  Queen's  side  —  before  begin- 
ning an  attack.  As  the  student  progresses 
he  will  learn  that  there  are  many  Chess 
openings  and  that  each  develops  a  certain 
line  of  play,  which  he  must  follow  up; 
otherwise,  his  study  of  the  subject  is  of 
no  avail  for  the  object  of  an  opening  is 
to  lead  up  to  a  certain  line  of  play,  for  de- 
fence or  attack. 

THE.  VALUE  OF  THE,  PIECES. 

The  King.  As  the  King  is  of  greatest 
importance,  the  student  should  consider 


70  BOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

him  first,  and  before  beginning  to  play  de- 
termine how  he  is  to  be  handled.  For- 
merly, it  was  the  custom  for  skilled  players 
to  keep  this  Eoyal  Force  in  a  corner  out 
of  harm's  way,  but  the  modern  tendency  is 
to  develop  him  as  a  fighting  Piece  and 
bring  him  into  the  field.  The  beginner 
must  remember  that  the  King  cannot  be 
castled  after  he  has  been  moved  and  that  it 
is  advantageous  to  retain  the  privilege  of 
castling  as  long  as  possible,  if  it  does  not 
interfere  with  the  development  of  the 
game. 

Wh£n  attack  is  made  on  the  Queen's 
wing,  it  is  well  to  castle  with  the  King's 
Rook  and  vice  versa.  Ordinarily,  the  King 
is  safest  in  his  own  file  or  in  the  Queen's 
file,  for  then  he  cannot  be  driven  into  a 
corner  from  which  he  has  no  means  of  es- 
cape. 

The  Queen.  After  the  King,  the  Queen 
is  next  in  importance;  and  as  the  student 
has  already  learned,  she  commands  more 
squares  than  any  of  the  other  Pieces.  By 
comparing  her  strength  with  that  of  the 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BEGINNERS   71 

other  Pieces,  the  student  will  see  that  she 
is  about  double  the  value  of  a  Rook,  ex- 
cept in  end-game  positions  when  two  Rooks 
co-operating  could  accomplish  more  than  a 
Queen.  An  adverse  Rook  on  the  same 
rank  or  file  as  the  Queen  is  very  dangerous, 
no  matter  how  many  Pieces  and  Pawns 
may  come  between,  and  the  player  should 
guard  against  it  by  capturing  the  adverse 
Rook,  if  it  can  be  done  without  sacrifice, 
or  by  moving  the  Queen  into  a  safer  posi- 
tion. 

The  Rook.  The  Rook  is  a  mating  force 
like  the  Queen,  and  two  Rooks  co-operat- 
ing are  equal  in  value  to  three  minor 
Pieces.  Because  of  the  number  of  squares 
which  the  Rooks  command,  they  are  of 
greatest  value  in  end  game  positions,  when 
the  board  is  comparatively  clear  and  the 
ranks  and  files  are  open.  The  beginner, 
however,  must  not  leave  the  development 
of  his  Rooks  until  too  late  in  the  game,  for 
if  he  does  he  will  find  himself  with  bad 
positions  which  it  is  too  late  to  remedy. 
They  must  not  be  moved,  though,  until  the 


72  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

player  has  determined  whether  it  is  to  his 
advantage  to  castle ;  and  if  his  decision  is 
in  the  affirmative,  he  must  decide  whether 
he  will  castle  with  the  King's  Rook  or 
with  the  Queen's  Rook,  before  either  has 
been  moved. 

The  Bishop.  The  Bishop  and  the 
Knight  are  of  about  equal  value,  though 
in  the  middle  game,  the  latter  has  the  ad- 
vantage. In  the  end  game,  however,  the 
Knight  is  at  a  disadvantage  if  there  are 
no  other  Pieces  to  support  him,  because  of 
the  character  of  his  move.  In  this  case, 
two  Bishops  can  accomplish  more  than  two 
Knights  or  a  Knight  and  a  Bishop.  Bish- 
ops are  particularly  strong  when  command- 
ing long  diagonals  and  should  be  devel- 
oped early  in  the  game. 

The  Knight.  This  Piece  is  equal  in 
value  to  three  Pawns  and  is  the  best  Piece 
with  which  to  begin  an  attack,  as  his  move 
is  not  hampered  by  intervening  forces,  or 
a  crowded  board.  Two  Knights  co-oper- 
ate most  successfully  when  not  protecting 
each  other.  To  avoid  attack  from  a  Knight, 


SUGGESTIONS  FOR  BEGINNERS    73 

the  player  should  move  the  Piece  threat- 
ened to  the  square  next  but  one  in  the 
same  diagonal  as  that  in  which  the  Knight 
stands.  He  cannot  then  attack  for  three 
moves.  The  player  who  castles  with  his 
King's  Rook  must  look  out  for  an  adverse 
Knight  on  his  KB5. 

The  Pawn.  The  Pawn  is  of  less  value 
than  any  of  the  other  Chessmen  and  can- 
not take  a  very  prominent  part  in  the  game 
when  isolated.  His  greatest  value  is  real- 
ized, however,  when  he  forms  part  of  a 
diagonal ;  and  diagonals  of  pawns  are  most 
effective  when  inclining  toward  the  center 
of  the  board,  and  not  toward  the  wings. 
As  Pawns  move  only  one  square  at  a  time, 
excepting  in  the  first  move,  their  progress 
is  slow,  but  if  developed  together  it  is  pos- 
sible for  one  or  more  of  them  to  reach  the 
eighth  rank  and  be  Queened.  For  this 
reason,  they  should  not  be  needlessly  sacri- 
ficed. Only  skillful  players  fully  appre- 
ciate what  can  be  done  with  them,  and  use 
them  to  the  best  advantage.  In  the  open- 
ing or  middle  game,  Pawns  are  more  easily 


74:  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

supported  on  K4  or  Q4,  than  when  fur- 
ther advanced.  Pawns  on  these  squares 
should  be  maintained  abreast  as  long  as 
possible;  for  if  one  is  advanced,  the  posi- 
tion of  the  other  is  weakened.  The  stud- 
ent will  find  it  beneficial  to  study  end 
games  in  which  Pawns  take  part  in  the 
checkmate,  and  also  Pawn  moves  in  gen- 
eral throughout  the  game. 

STUDYING  THE  BOARD. 

It  is  of  great  importance  that  the  be- 
ginner acquires  a  clear  idea  of  the  appear- 
ance of  the  board  so  that  he  can  see  it  in 
his  "  Mind's  Eye,"  when  it  is  not  really 
before  him.  He  should  be  able  to  tell  at 
once  what  squares  are  commanded  by  a 
certain  Piece  in  a  given  position,  and  he 
should  also  be  able  to  play  on  boards  with 
squares  of  other  color  combinations  than 
the  one  with  which  he  is  familar,  such  as 
red  and  white,  black  and  white,  black  and 
yellow,  brown  and  yellow,  etc.  He  must 
also  accustom  himself  to  play  with  squares 
of  a  different  size,  though  when  possible, 


SUOOESTION8  FOR  BEGINNERS    7^ 

he  should  always  use  a  board  that  has 
squares  measuring  2  by  2,  or  2%  by  2^ 
inches  in  size.  Chessmen  of  the  Staun- 
ton  pattern  are  preferable,  and  they 
should  always  be  loaded  so  as  not  to  upset 
easily. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

SYSTEMS  OF  NOTATION 

Notation  is  the  method  or  system  by 
which  the  various  moves  or  plays  in  a  game 
of  Chess  are  recorded.  There  are  two  sys- 
tems in  general  use ;  and  the  student  should 
become  familiar  with  them  both.  The  first 
and  most  important  is  the  English,  or 
Philidor's  Notation,  and  the  second  is  the 
German  Notation.  The  former  system  is 
used  in  all  of  the  Latin  and  English  speak- 
ing countries,  while  the  latter  is  used  in 
Germany  and  in  the  countries  of  the 
North. 

ENGLISH  NOTATION. 

In  recording  the  moves  of  a  game  by 
the  English  system  of  notation  it  is  neces- 
sary to  indicate  four  things :-  - 

(1)   The  color  of  the  man  moved. 

76 


SYSTEMS  OF  NOTATION  77 

(2)  The  name  of  the  man  moved. 

(3)  The  square  to  which  the  move  has 
been  made. 

(4)  The  number  of  the  move  or  turn. 
The   student   has    already   learned   the 

names  of  the  Pieces  and  Pawns  and  the 
names  of  the  squares.  He  also  knows  that 
they  are  referred  to  by  their  initial  let- 
ters, as  for  example  KB  for  King's  Bishop, 
and  QKt5  for  Queen's  Knight's  fifth 
square,  so  he  has  now  only  to  learn  the 
abbreviations  and  signs  and  the  way  that 
the  moves  are  arranged  to  indicate  the 
color  of  the  man  played,  and  the  number 
of  the  turn  when  the  move  was  made. 

For  example:  If  the  student  wishes  to 
record  that  in  the  first  turn  of  each  side 
White  moved  his  King's  Pawn  to  his 
King's  fourth  square,  and  Black  moved 
his  Queen's  Knight  to  his  Queen's  Bishop's 
third  square  he  could  write  it  in  the  form 
of  two  columns,  with  the  name  of  each 
color  at  the  head  thus : — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

(1)     KP  to  K4  QKt.  to  QB3 


78  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

The  student  will  note  that  White  is 
placed  in  the  first  column  as  it  is  generally 
understood  to  play  first,  and  that  the  num- 
ber of  the  move  is  also  placed  before 
White's  move,  it  being  unnecessary  to  re- 
peat it  before  Black's  move  as  Black's 
move,  always  following  White's,  would 
have  the  same  number.  For  further  abbre- 
viation the  dash  ( — )  is  used  in  place  of 
the  word  "  to."  If  the  Piece  or  Pawn 
moved  had  captured  an  adverse  Piece  or 
Pawn,  the  name  of  the  force  moved  and 
the  name  of  the  force  captured  would  be 
given,  but  instead  of  using  the  word 
"  take,"  or  "  capture  "  a  multiplication 
sign  ( X  )  is  used.  Thus  if  a  Queen  takes 
a  Bishop  it  would  be  recorded  QXB. 

Frequently,  in  notation,  it  is  not  essen- 
tial to  indicate  whether  it  is  a  Piece  be- 
longing to  the  King  or  to  the  Queen  that 
has  been  moved,  for  it  rarely  happens 
that  the  player  has  the  option  of  moving  a 
Queen's  Bishop  or  a  King's  Bishop,  etc. 
The  Pawns  are  also  designated  only  by  the 
initial  P.  The  student  will  also  observe 


SYSTEMS  OF  NOTATION  79 

that  it  is  not  always  essential  to  indicate 
in  the  case  of  a  Queen's  move  to  a  Knight's 
square  whether  it  is  the  QKt.  or  the  KKt., 
as  it  is  seldom  that  the  player  would  have 
the  choice  of  moves.  Sometimes,  for  the 
sake  of  brevity,  even  the  dash  ( — )  which 
indicates  "  to  "  is  omitted  and  the  move 
recorded  PK4.  In  analytical  works, 
even  more  concise  arrangements  of  the 
moves  are  used,  than  that  of  arranging 
them  in  columns  with  White's  moves  on 
one  side,  and  Black's  on  the  other.  The 
student  will  find  them  written  in  the  form 
of  fractions,  with  White's  move  as  the 
numerator,  above  the  line,  and  Black's 
move  as  the  denominator,  below  the  line. 
Thus:  QKt  — QB3 
QXB. 

The  number  of  the  move  must  always 
be  placed  before  it,  parallel  with  the  line 
which  divides  the  White  move  from 
the  Black  move.  In  notes  or  annotations 
to  a  game,  the  moves  are  written  as  a  se- 
ries with  a  semi-colon  to  separate  White's 
move  from  that  of  Black.  White's  move 


80  HOW  TO  PLAT  CHESS 

being  placed  first,  thus:  (1)  P— K4;  P— 
Q4,  indicates  that  in  the  first  move  of  the 
game  White  moved  his  Pawn  to  his  King's 
fourth  square,  and  Black  moved  his  Pawn 
to  his  Queen's  fourth  square. 

Certain  technical  terms  are  also  abbre- 
viated in  the  English  system  of  notation. 
Those  essential  for  the  student  to  know 
are: 

Ch.  for  Check.  When  the  Piece  or 
Pawn  moved  gives  check. 

Dis.  ch.  for  Discovered  Check.  When 
the  Piece  or  Pawn  moved  discovers  check. 

E.  P.  for  En  Passant.  When  the  Pawn 
captures  en  passant. 

Mate  for  Checkmate.  When  the  Piece 
or  Pawn  checkmates. 

0-0  for  Castling.  When  the  player 
castles  with  his  King's  Rook. 

0-0-0  for  Castling.  When  the  player 
castles  with  his  Queen's  Eook. 

?  after  a  move  indicates  that  it  is  a 
poor  or  inferior  play. 

/  after  a  move  indicates  that  it  is  a 
good  or  scientific  play. 


SYSTEMS  OF  NOTATION 
GERMAN  NOTATION. 


81 


Before  taking  up  the  study  of  German 
notation,  the  student  must  make  a  careful 


BLACK. 
c       d       e 


1 


c      d       e      f 

WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  X. 

German  Notation. 


examination  of  DIAGEAM  x,  which  shows 
him    how     the     squares    on    a     German 


82  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

Chessboard  are  marked  off.  It  will  be 
noted  that  they  are  indicated  in  a  different 
way  from  the  English  system.  The  ranks 
are  numbered  from  1  to  8,  from  White's 
side  only  and  the  files  are  lettered  with 
the  first  eight  letters  of  the  alphabet,  a,  b, 
c,  d,  e,  f,  g,  h,  beginning  at  White's  left 
hand  side. 

For  example:  White's  KB3,  by  the 
English  system  of  notation  is  f3  by  the 
German  method ;  while  KB 3,  from  Black's 
side  is  f  6.  From  this,  it  will  be  seen  that 
each  square  has  a  letter  and  a  number, 
and  the  letter  is  always  given  first. 

In  recording  a  move  by  the  German  sys- 
tem of  notation,  the  initial  letter  of  the 
Chessman  is  given,  then  the  square  on 
which  it  stands,  and  finally  the  square  to 
which  it  is  moved.  The  omission  of  the  ini- 
tial letter  shows  that  the  move  is  made  by 
a  Pawn.  A  capture  is  indicated  by  a  colon 
(  :),  placed  after  the  move;  a  check  is  in- 
dicated by  a  dagger  (f ),  placed  after  the 
move,  and  a  capture  and  check  is  indicated 
by  a  doubledagger  (^),  placed  after  the 


SYSTEMS  OF  NOTATION  83 

move.  Castling  is  always  indicated  by  the 
signs,  O-O,  or  O-O-O,  as  already  explained 
in  the  English  system  of  notation. 

For  example,  the  moves  used  to  illus- 
trate the  English  system  would  be  recorded 
by  the  German  system  thus : — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

(1)     e2— e4.  Ktb8— c6 

The  moves  are  also  frequently  written 
in  a  line  or  as  fractions  as  shown  in  the 
English  notation. 

The  German  System  of  Notation  is 
sometimes  abbreviated  by: — 

(1)  The  omission  of  the  dash,  the  move 
being  written  e2e4. 

(2)  By  the  omission  of  the  initial  let- 
ter of  the  Piece  moved  when  it  is  evident 
that  it  could  not  be  a  Pawn. 

(3)  By  the  omission  of  the  square  from 
which  the  Piece  or  Pawn  was  moved. 

EOREIGN  NAMES  OF  THE  CHESSMEN. 

In  every  country,  where  Chess  is  played, 
the  Pieces  are  referred  to  by  their  initial 


84 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CB ESS 


* 

English 

German. 

Danish  and 
Norwegian. 

Dutch. 

Swedish. 

King 

Konig 

Konge 

Koning 

Kung 

^ 

Queen 

Dame 

Dronning 

Koningin 

Drottning 

B 

Rook 

Thurm 

Taarn 

Kasteel 

Torn 

JL 

Bishop 

Laufer 

Lober 

Raadsheei 

Lopare 

& 

Knight 

Springer 

Springer 

Paard 

Hast 

I 

Pawn 

Bauer 

Bonde 

Pion 

Bonde 

French. 

Italian. 

Portuguese. 

Russian. 

Spanish. 

Roi 

Re 

Rai 

Tsar    or 
Korol  or 
Ferz 

Rey 

^it 

Dame 

Donna 

Rainha 

Korolina 

Reina 

1 

Tour 

Torre 

Torre 

Ladia 

Torre 

1, 

Fou 

Alflere 

Bispo    or 
Delphim 

Slone 

Alfll 

^ 

Cavalier 

Cavallo 

Cavallo 

Kogne 

Caballo 

§ 

Pion 

Pedone 

Peao 

Piechka 

Peon 

SYSTEMS  OF  NOTATION  85 

letters,  and  as  the  student  may  have  occa- 
sion to  study  the  games  played  by  persons 
of  skill  in  foreign  countries,  a  table  is 
given  on  page  84,  so  that  the  student  may 
familiarize  himself  with  the  names  of  the 
Chessmen  in  the  languages  of  the  princi- 
pal countries  of  Europe. 


CHAPTEE  IX. 

PRACTICE   GAME 

The  student  has  now  reached  a  point  in 
the  study  of  Chess,  when  he  is  ready  to 
play  his  first  game,  as  he  is  familiar  with 
the  rules  of  play,  and  with  the  moves  of 
the  Pieces  and  Pawns.  It  is  well,  how- 
ever, for  him  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of 
experienced  players;  and  as  a  practice 
game,  he  should  study  the  following  game 
which  was  played  by  correspondence  be- 
tween two  well  known  American  Chess 
Clubs. 

The  beginner  should  have  his  board  be- 
fore him  with  the  men  set  up  in  position 
as  shown  in  DIAGRAM  i.  He  should 
then  follow  the  moves  of  each  play,  so  that 
he  will  understand  them,  and  study  the 
explanations  so  that  he  will  know  why 
each  move  was  made.  The  game  is  called 
86 


PRACTICE  GAME 


87 


the  Steinitz  Gambit  because  of  the  name 
of  the  man  who  invented  the  opening 
moves. 

The  moves  are  notated  as  follows : 

STEINITZ  GAMBIT. 


WHITE. 

1.  P— K4. 

2.  Kt— QB3. 

3.  P— B4. 

4.  P— Q4. 

5.  K— K2. 

6.  PXP. 

7.  Kt— B3. 

8.  PXKt. 

9.  PXP  (ch.). 

10.  PXB.? 

11.  QXR  (ch.). 

12.  B— Q2. 

13.  K--Q  sq. 

14.  K— B  sq. 

15.  PXB. 

16.  Resigns. 


BLACK. 
P— K4. 
Kt— Q  B3. 
PXP. 

Q— Ro  (ch.). 
P— Q4. 

B— KKt5  (ch.). 
O— O— O. 
B— Q  B4. 
K— Kt  sq. 
Kt— B3.! 
RXQ. 

R— Ksq.    (ch.). 
Q— B7. 
BXKt. 
QXKKt.P. 


The  student  will  note  that  the  game  was 
played  in  fifteen  moves  on  each  side  and 
that  at  White's  sixteenth  move,  he  resigns 


88  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

the  game  to  Black,  giving  up  any  further 
attempt  to  win  it. 

In  studying  and  following  the  moves, 
the  student  must  be  careful  to  reckon 
White's  moves  from  his  side  of  the  board, 
and  Black's  moves  from  his  side,  other- 
wise he  will  make  mistakes. 
P— K4 

'p— K4 

(1)  White's  first  move  is  P — K4,  and 
the  student  sees,  at  once,  that  the  move  is 
made  with  the  KP  as  no  other  Pawn  could 
be  moved  into  that  file.  As  this  is  the 
first  move  of  the  Pawn  it  can  move  two 
squares  at  a  time.  The  advantage  of  this 
move  is  to  make  an  opening  for  White's 
King,  Queen  and  King's  Bishop  if  he  de- 
sires to  play  them  in  future  turns. 

In  Black's  first  turn,  he  makes  the  same 
move,  and,  by  following  the  two  plays  on 
the  board,  the  student  will  see  that  the 
two  Pawns  occupy  adjoining  squares  in 
the  same  file.  Another  advantage  in  this 
play,  as  an  opening  move,  is  the  opportun- 
ity it  offers  a  player  for  gaining  the  center 


PRACTICE  GAME  89 

of  the  board,  but  this  will  be  clearer  to  the 

student  as  the  game  progresses. 
Kt— QB3 

'  Kt— QB3 

(2)  In  White's  second  turn,  he  moves 
a  Kt.  to  QB3  and  the  student  sees  at  once 
that  it  is  the  QKt.  that  he  has  moved,  as 
the  KKt.  could  not  be  moved  to  that  square 
in  his  first  move. 

Black  follows  with  a  similar  move  to 
that  of  White,  and  from  the  positions  that 
the  two  Knights  occupy  upon  the  board,  it 
will  be  seen  that  each  protects  his  own 
Pawn  or  commands  the  square  occupied 
by  his  Pawn. 

P— B4 
3, 
PXP 

(3)  White's  third  move  is  to  place  his 
Bishop's   Pawn   on   his   Bishop's    fourth 
square,  and  as  his  Queen's  Knight  occu- 
pies his  QB^f  it  is  evident  that  the  move 
is  made  with  the  KBP.     The  student  will 
see  that  this  Pawn  is  now  in  a  position  to 
be  captured  by  Black's  KP,  but  this  offer- 
ing of  a  Pawn  on  White's  part  will  gain 
for  him  a  later  advantage. 


90  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

In  Black's  third  move,  he  captures  the 
Pawn  that  White  has  just  played  and  re- 
moves it  from  the  board.  He  has  also 
moved  his  own  Pawn  from  the  middle  of 
the  board  which  better  enables  White  to 
form  a  center  which  was  the  advantage  he 
hoped  to  gain  when  he  offered  Black  the 
Pawn.  Black,  however,  has  retained  the 
advantage  of  force  having  one  more  Pawn 
than  his  adversary  and  if  he  can  keep  it 

he  may  eventually  win  the  game. 
P— Q4 


Q— R5  (ch.) 

(4)  White,  having  enticed  Black's 
Pawn  from  the  center,  proceeds  to  occupy 
it  himself  by  moving  his  QP  to  Q4.  This 
square,  however,  is  commanded  by  the 
Black  Knight,  but  if  he  captured  the 
White  Pawn  he  would  place  himself  on  a 
square  commanded  by  the  White  Queen. 
This  move  constitutes  the  Steinmetz  Gam- 
bit and  all  games  of  that  name  must  fol- 
low the  moves  as  recorded  up  to  this 
point. 

In  Black's  fourth  move,  he  brings  out 


PRACTICE  GAME  91 

his  Queen  and  moves  her  along  the  diag- 
onal that  ends  on  K5.  This,  of  course,  can 
only  be  the  KE5  as  the  Queen  from  her 
original  position  would  have  to  follow 
the  diagonal  terminating  in  QR4  if  she 
played  into  a  square  on  her  own  side  of 
the  board.  The  student  will  see  that  when 
the  Black  Queen  occupies  E5,  she  gives 
check  to  the  White  King  as  there  are  no 
Pieces  or  Pawns  interposed  between  them. 
5K— K2 

'P— Q4 

(5)  As  check  has  been  given  to  White's 
King,  the  only  move  he  can  legitimately 
make  is  one  to  avoid  the  check.  As  the 
student  has  already  learned  there  are  three 
ways  of  accomplishing  this:  (1)  By  cap- 
turing the  checking  force;  (2)  By  inter- 
posing another  Piece  or  Pawn;  (3)  By 
moving  the  King.  The  student  will  see 
that  there  is  only  one  play  open  to  White 
and  that  is  to  move  the  King  to  K2 ;  for 
if  a  Piece  or  Pawn  were  interposed  it 
would  be  captured  in  the  Black  Queen's 
next  move  when  she  would  again  give 


92  HOW  TO  2JLAY  CHESS 

check,  and,  as  the  Rook's  Pawn  is  in  the 
way,  the  Queen  cannot  be  captured  by 
the  Rook.  By  moving  the  King,  however, 
White  cannot  castle. 

For  Black's  fifth  move,  he  takes  his  QP 
which  has  not  yet  been  moved  and  places 
it  on  Q4.  This  opens  the  diagonal  for 
the  Queen's  Bishop  and  for  the  King's 
Bishop.  Had  Black  only  moved  his  Pawn 
to  Q3,  it  would  have  freed  his  QB  but 
it  would  have  interfered  with  the  long 
diagonal  commanded  by  the  KB.  It  is  evi- 
dent from  this  that  Black  intends  to  move 
his  QB  to  KKt5  and  give  check  with  it  so 
White  should  look  out  for  him.  (See 

DIAGRAM   XIII.) 

PXP 

6,. 

B— Kt5  (ch.) 

(6)  White,  however,  does  not  notice 
that  Black  can  give  check  in  the  next  move 
but  captures  his  adversary's  Pawn  with 
his  own  Pawn  that  stands  on  K4.  The 
forces  of  the  two  players  are  now  equal 
and  the  advantage  gained  by  White  is  to 
place  his  Pawn  on  Q5  where  it  commands 


PRACTICE  GAME 


93 


the  square  occupied  by  the  Black  Knight. 

Black  now  takes  the  advantage  gained 

by  his  last  move  and  gives  check  with  his 


BLACK. 


i 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XIII. 
Position  After  Black's   Fifth  Move. 

QB  by  moving  it  to  Kt5,  where  it  com- 
mands the  square  occupied  by  the  White 
King. 


94:  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

Kt— B3 


7,- 


0—0—0 

(7)  Again,  White's  only  legal  move  is 
to  avoid  the  check,  but  of  the  three  ways 
to  do  itj  interposing  another  force  between 
the  King  and  the  attacking  man  is  the 
best  play,  so  he  moves  his  Knight  to  B3. 
The  student  sees  at  once  that  the  KKt  is 
the  only  one  that  can  be  moved  into  that 
square  as  the  QKt.  is  out  in  the  middle  of 
the  board.  The  Knight  is  now  pinned  as 
it  protects  the  King  from  the  Black  Bish- 
op, otherwise  it  would  be  in  a  position  to 
capture  the  Black  Queen. 

Black,  in  his  seventh  move,  castles  with 
his  Queen's  Rook  as  the  squares  on  that 
side  of  the  board  are  vacant.  In  order 
to  do  this,  he  moves  the  Eook  to  Qsq.  and 
then  moves  the  King  to  the  QBsq.  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Rook.  Although  Black 
has  left  his  Knight  en  pris,  castling  is 
his  correct  play  for  it  enables  him  to  de- 
velop his  Eook  which  is  a  more  powerful 
Piece  than  the  Knight,  and  as  the  White 
King  stands  on  an  open  file,  Black,  in  one 


PRACTICE  GAME  95 

more  move,  can  give  check  which  will  force 
White  to  move  his  King.  The  Rook  will 
then  command  the  open  file  and  with  his 
Queen,  Black  will  have  a  very  strong  posi- 
tion. 


B—  QB4 

(8)  White    now     captures    the    Black 
Knight   with    his    Pawn.      Although   his 
Pawn  is  threatened,  he  is  willing  to  face 
the  danger  in  having  won  a  Piece  from  his 
adversary. 

For  Black's  eighth  move,  he  plays  his 
KB  to  his  QB4  :  the  student  sees,  at  once, 
that  it  is  only  the  KB  that  could  make  this 
move  for  the  QB  stands  on  KKt5.  This 
move  places  the  Bishop  en  pris,  but  if 
White  takes  him  in  the  next  move,  he 
leaves  his  Queen's  file  open  to  the  adverse 
Rook  which  is  likely  to  capture  the  Queen 
in  his  next  turn. 

PXP  (ch.) 
'  K—  Ktsq. 

(9)  White  takes  the  Pawn  that  threat- 
ened him  and  also  gives  check  which  forces 
Black  to  protect  his  King. 


96  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

Black's  only  legal  move  is  to  avoid  check 
by  protecting  his  King  and  of  the  three 
ways,  two  are  open  to  him,  i.e.,  capturing 
the  attacking  Pawn,  and  moving  the  King. 
The  latter  play  is  preferable  and  his  King 
commands  two  squares;  Q2  and  Ktsq.  If 
the  former  move  were  made,  White  would 
take  the  KB  with  his  Pawn,  discovering 
check  with  the  Queen  and  again  Black 
would  have  to  make  a  move  to  avoid  the 
check.  Thus,  Black's  correct  move  is  K — 

Ktsq. 

PXB? 

10, 

Kt.— B3! 

(10)  White  captures  the  adverse  Bish- 
op with  his  Pawn,  but  he  leaves  the  file 
open  to  the  Black  Eook  who  can  capture 
the  Queen.  As  White  has  now  taken  four 
adverse  forces  this  play  of  his,  ordinarily, 
would  not  have  been  a  bad  move,  but  as  a 
matter  of  fact  it  loses  the  game  for  him. 
The  student  should  note  the  question  mark 
(  ?)  after  the  notation  of  White's  play. 
White  can  also  take  the  Eook  which  cap- 
tures the  Queen  with  his  Knight  if  Black 


PRACTICE  GAME  97 

takes  advantage  of  the  open  file.  Stein- 
itzj  in  his  notes  to  this  game,  indicates 
Kt. — Kt5  as  the  correct  move,  for  then  the 
Knight  can  protect  the  Queen's  Pawn. 

Black,  instead  of  taking  the  adverse 
Queen  with  his  Book,  moves  his  Knight 
to  B3,  which  is  a  very  skilful  move  as  the 
King's  and  Queen's  files  are  both  open  and 
if  he  can  succeed  in  posting  his  Eooks  on 
the  Qsq.  and  the  Ksq.  he  will  practically 
have  control  of  the  board.  As  one  Rook 
already  occupies  the  Qsq.  he  has  only  to 
move  the  KE  to  Qsq.  in  his  next  move 
to  give  check  with  it.  He  can  also  give 
check  by  moving  his  QE  to  Ksq.?  and  as 
White  cannot  move  his  King  into  any 
square  that  is  not  commanded  by  an  ad- 
verse force,  and  as  he  cannot  capture  the 
attacking  force,  he  will  have  to  interpose, 
but  the  only  men  he  could  interpose  could 
be  captured  by  Black,  so  in  his  eleventh 
move  he  has  to  guard  against  this  check 
before  it  is  given. 
n  QXR  (eh.) 

'  RXQ 


98  BOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

(11)  White's  Queen  now  takes  advan- 
tage of  the  open  file  and  captures  the 
Queen's  Rook,  at  the  same  time  giving 
check. 

As  White  has  given  check,  Black  must 
avoid  it  and  there  are  two  things  for  him 
to  do;  move  the  King  or  take  the  attack* 
ing  force.  The  latter,  of  course,  is  the 
better  play,  as  the  Queen,  if  left  on  the 
board,  could  again  give  check. 

At  this  point  in  the  game,  the  student 
should  study  the  positions  of  the  White 
men  and  of  the  Black,  and  he  will  see  that 
it  is  quality  of  position  rather  than  quan- 
tity of  men  that  gives  Black  the  advan- 
tage. Black  has  lost  a  number  of  his  men 
but  the  others  are  so  well  developed  that 
they  have  far  more  strength  than  White's 
which  are  either  pinned  in  or  undeveloped. 
White's  two  Rooks  and  his  King's  Bishop 
are  shut  in  by  their  Pawns  and  his  King's 
Knight  is  pinned  to  protect  the  King  from 
the  adverse  Bishop. 


R— Ksq  (ch.) 


PRACTICE  GAME  99 

(12)  White  might  move  his  QB  to  KB4 
and  capture  the  Black  Pawn  but  his  posi- 
tion is  too  critical  and  it  is  wiser  for  him 
to  bring  his  strength  nearer  the  King  so 
that  if  he  is  attacked,  he  can  move  into 
Qsq.  and  be  protected.     For  this  reason, 
the  best  move  is  QB — Q2.    Another  reason 
for  this  move  is  to  clear  the  first  rank  for 
the  Queen's  Book. 

Black  now  moves  his  remaining  Eook 

to  Ksq.  and  gives  check. 

K-Qsq. 

1«J,    

Q— B7 

(13)  White  must  do  something  to  avoid 
the  check  and  it  has  already  been  shown 
how  difficult  it  is  for  him  to  interpose.    Of 
the  five  squares  which  he  commands,  three 
are  commanded  by  adverse  forces;  Ksq., 
KB2,  K3,  therefore,  his  only  moves  are 
to  Q 3  or  Qsq.     The  latter  is  the  correct 
play,  as  it  enables  him  to  get  his  King  into 
cover,  opens  the  diagonal  for  the  King's 
Bishop,  and  opens  the  way  for  the  King's 
Eook  after  the  KB  has  been  moved. 

For  Black's  thirteenth  move  he  puts  his 


100  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

Queen  on  B7,  which  is  preparatory  to  tak- 
ing the  adverse  KKt.  with  his  Bishop.  If 
White  then  take  the  Bishop  with  hjs  KtP 
the  Queen  will  take  the  Pawn,  giving 
check  and  attacking  the  White  King's 
Rook  at  the  same  time.  White  can  see 
the  object  of  Black's  play  so  in  his  next 
move  he  must  try  to  prevent  it.  (See 

DIAGRAM   XIV). 

K— Bsq. 

14, - 

BXKt. 

(14)  White  moves  his  King  to  Bsq. 
which  puts  him  more  under  cover  though 
it  blocks  his  QE.  He  gains  an  advantage, 
however,  for  by  moving  from  the  diagonal 
commanded  by  the  adverse  QB,  his  own 
Knight  is  unpinned  and  can  be  moved  if 
necessary. 

Black  takes  the  Knight  with  his  Bishop, 
though  he  exposes  his  Bishop  to  capture  in 
White's  next  move,  but  as  the  two  pieces 
are  of  about  equal  value,  the  exchange  is 

even. 

PXB 

15, 

QXKKt.P 


PRACTICE 


101 


(15)  White  takes  the  Black  QB  w 
his   KtP,   making   an   even  exchange  for 


the  loss  of  his  Knight. 


BLACK. 


I 


JL 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XIV. 

Position  After  Black's  Thirteenth  Move, 

Black  has  so  many  moves  that,  to  an  in- 
experienced player,  it  is  doubtful  which 
one  is  best  to  make.  Capturing  the  KtP., 


102  *  HOW'  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

^is:the  w>Tect*"play,  as  it  puts  the  Queen  in 
a  position  to  take  three  of  White's  forces : 
QKt.,  KB,  and  KR.  Of  the  three,  the  KB 
is  protected  by  the  KR  and  the  QKt.  is 
protected  by  the  QKt.P  and  the  QB  so 
they  are  both  safe.  The  KR  is  not  pro- 
tected, nor  is  the  pawn  on  QKt7  so  White 
must  take  steps  to  protect  the  more  valua- 
ble, i.e.,  the  KR. 
16,  Resigns. 

(16)  White's  Pieces  and  Pawns  are 
now  in  such  a  poor  position  that  even  if 
he  did  try  to  protect  his  King's  Rook,  he 
would  gain  so  little  that  he  could  not  pos- 
sibly hope  to  win  the  game  and,  in  conse- 
quence of  this,  he  resigns  and  Black  scores 
the  game  as  won. 

The  student  should  notice  that  in  this 
game,  in  spite  of  the  opening  moves  on 
White's  part,  he  has  been  on  the  defensive 
side  all  the  time.  Black,  on  the  contrary, 
has  made  the  attack  with  such  success  that 
his  adversary  resigned  without  even  wait- 
ing for  the  checkmate. 


CHAPTEK  X 

CHESS    OPENINGS 

The  opening  moves  in  a  game  of  Chess 
are  of  particular  importance  for  it  is  in 
them  that  the  strategy  of  the  game  is  most 
clearly  distinguished  from  mere  Chess 
tactics.  Each  opening  is  intended  to  de- 
velop a  certain  theory  or  course  of  play, 
and  the  skill  of  a  Chess  player  is  indicated 
by  his  first  moves,  as  they  are  made  of  his 
own  free  will  and  not  because  his  adver- 
sary forces  him  to  take  an  aggressive  or 
defensive  position,  as  is  often  the  case  in 
the  later  development  of  the  game.  Eor 
this  reason,  Chess  openings  have  been  a 
study  of  profound  interest  to  Chess  play- 
ers all  over  the  world  wherever  the  game 
is  played,  and  the  principal  or  regular 
openings  are  named  after  the  Piece  or 
Pawn  which  determines  their  character, 
103 


104:  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

the  persons  who  invented  them,  or  the 
countries  where  they  were  originally 
adopted. 

It  is  evident  to  the  student,  therefore, 
how  important  it  is  for  him  to  be  familiar 
with  the  preliminary  moves  in  a  game  of 
Chess,  and  he  must  give  careful  attention 
to  the  study  of  this  chapter;  following 
each  play  on  his  own  board  so  that  it  will 
be  perfectly  clear  to  him  and  easy  to  re- 
member, for  every  successful  Chess  player 
should  know  the  openings  by  name  when 
he  has  occasion  to  refer  to  them. 

The  student  has  already  learned  that 
some  openings  are  regular  and  some  irreg- 
ular, but  it  is  only  necessary  for  him  to 
become  familiar  with  the  former  until  he 
has  had  much  experience  in  practical  play. 

The  four  most  generally  practiced  open- 
ings are  made  on  the  King's  side  of  the 
board,  and  the  student  should  become 
thoroughly  familiar  with  them. 

The  first  opening  is  called  the  KING'S 
KNIGHT'S  OPENING.  Each  player,  in 
turn,  moves  his  KP  to  K4  and  then  the 


CHESS  OPENINGS  105 

first  player  moves  his  Kt.   to  his  KB3. 

The  second  opening  is  called  the 
KING'S  BISHOP'S  OPENING.  Each  player 
in  turn,  moves  his  KP  to  his  K4  and  then 
the  first  player  moves  his  KB  along  the 
diagonal  to  QB4. 

The  third  opening  is  called  the 
QUEEN'S  BISHOP'S  PAWN'S  OPENING. 
Each  player,  in  turn,  moves  his  KP  to 
K4  and  then  the  first  player  moves  his 
QBP  to  QB3. 

The  fourth  opening  is  called  the 
KING'S  GAMBIT.  The  student  will  re- 
member that  a  gambit  means  the  sacrifice 
of  a  Piece  or  Pawn  for  the  sake  of  an  ad- 
vantage that  is  to  be  gained  later  by  the 
first  player.  Each  player,  in  turn,  moves 
his  KP  to  K4:  and  then  the  first  player 
moves  his  KBP  to  KB4,  where  it  is  in  a 
position  to  be  captured  by  the  adverse 
Pawn. 

The  student  will  note  that  in  each  of 
these  openings,  the  first  move  of  each 
player  is  identical,  i.e.,  the  KP  to  K4. 
This  opening  move  clears  the  way  for  the 


106  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

King,  the  Queen,  and  the  King's  Bishop, 
if  the  player  cares  to  develop  them.  Each 
of  these  openings  has  a  number  of  varia- 
tions in  the  plays  which  follow,  and  these 
variations  are  recognized  and  given  spe- 
cific names,  with  which  the  student  must 
become  familiar. 

THE  KING'S  KNIGHT'S  OPENING. 

The  most  important,  and  hence  to  be 
considered  first,  is  the  King's  Knight's 
Opening  which  has  ten  recognized  varia- 
tions. In  notating  them,  it  will  be  under- 
stood that  White  plays  first  and  his  moves 
will  be  recorded  in  the  first  column.  Un- 
fortunately, lack  of  space  prevents  re- 
cording games  that  illustrate  the  develop- 
ment of  these  variations,  but  there  are  so 
many  excellent  works  on  the  subject  that 
the  student  who  wishes  to  go  into  them 
more  deeply  will  find  ample  material_for 
his  purpose. 

The  ten  variations  under  the  King's 
Knight's  Opening  are  as  follows :- — 


CHESS  OPENINGS  107 

The  Damiano  Gambit. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt— KB3  P— KB3 
PMlidor's  Defense. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt.— KB3  P— Q3 
Petroff's  Defense. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt.— KB3  Kt.— KB3 

(The  student  will  note  in  this  defense  that  each 
Pawn  is  protected  by  his  Knight  as  each  Knight 
commands  the  square  occupied  by  his  own 
Pawn. ) 

The  Counter  Gambit  in  the  Knight's  Opening. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt.— KB3  P— KB4 

(The  student  will  note  that  the  two  Black 
Pawns  occupy  squares  commanded  by  White's 
forces.  This  constitutes  the  counter  gambit  the 
sacrifice  of  a  force  being  made  by  the  second 
player. ) 

The  Giuoco  Piano. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt.— B3  Kt.— QB3 

3.  KB— QB4 

Captain  Evans9s  Gambit. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt.— KBf  Kt.— QB3 

3.  KB— QB4  KB— QB4 

4.  P— QKt.4 


108  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

The  Two  Knights'  Defense. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt.— KB3  Kt.— QB3 

3.  KB— QB4  Kt.— KB3 
The  Knight's  Game  or  Ruy  Lopez. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt.— KB3  Kt.— QB3 

3.  KB— QKt.5 

The  Queen's  Pawns'  Game,  or  Scotch  Gambit. — • 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt.— KB3  Kt.— QB3 

3.  P— Q4 

The    Queen's    Bishop's    Pawn's    Game    in    ths 
Knight's  Opening. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  Kt.— KB3  Kt.— QB3 

3.  P— QB3 

THE  KING'S  BISHOP'S  OPENING. 

The  second  opening,  the  King's  Bishop's 
Opening,  has  seven  recognized  variations, 
all  of  which  are  important  for  the  student 
to  know  and  he  will  also  find  them  of  par- 
ticular interest.  In  the  days  of  Philidor 
and  his  contemporaries,  this  was  consid- 
ered the  safest  opening,  as  it  demands 
no  initiatory  sacrifice  from  the  first  play- 
er and  permits  the  Pawns  to  advance  un- 


CHESS  OPENINGS  109 

obstructed,  but  modern  players  give  it  sec- 
ond place  and  consider  the  King's  Knight's 
Opening  the  safest  and  most  effective 
means  of  attack.  The  variations  under 
the  King's  Bishop's  Opening,  with  their 
specific  names,  are : — 

The  Game  of  the  Two  Kings9  Bishops. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  KB— QB4  KB— QB4 
The  Italians9  Defense. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  KB— QB4  KB— QB4 

3.  P— QB3  Q— KKt.4  ' 
Me  Donnell's  Double  Gambit. 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  KB— QB4  KB— QB4 

3.  P— QKt.4  BXKt.P 

4.  P— KB4 

The  Lopez  Gambit. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  KB— QB4  KB— QB4 

3.  Q— K2  P— Q3 

4.  P— KB4 

The  King's  Knight's  Defense. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4. 

2.  KB— QB4  Kt—  KB3 
The  Counter  Gambit. — 

"l.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  KB— QB4  P— KB4 


110  HOW  TO  PLAY  C 

The   Queen's  Bishop's  Pawn's  Defense. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  KBr-QB4  P— QB3 

THE  QUEEN'S  BISHOP'S  OPENING. 

The  Queen's  Bishop's  Pawn's  Opening 
was  a  great  favorite  with  European  Chess 
players  in  the  sixteenth  century,  and  Kuy 
Lopez  has  devoted  much  space  to  it  in  his 
oft-quoted  work  on  Chess.  Philidor,  how- 
ever, condemned  it,  but  the  Italian  school 
has  proved  that  it  can  safely  be  adopted, 
though  it  offers  comparatively  few  oppor- 
tunities for  striking  or  instructive  combi- 
nations of  play.  The  object  of  the  open- 
ing, on  the  part  of  the  first  player,  is  to 
occupy  the  center  of  the  board  with  his 
Pawns  rather  than  to  develop  his  Pieces. 
The  variations  have  no  specific  names,  but 
to  illustrate  this  opening  the  student 
should  study  the  following  preliminary 
moves  from  games  played  by  famous  Chess 
players.  Only  the  first  four  moves  of  each 
player  are  given. 


CHESS  OPENINGS 


111 


CAPTAIN     EVANS      (WHITE)      VERSUS     AN     AMATEUR 

( BLACK ) . 
WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  P— QB3  Kt— KB3 

3.  P— Q4  PXP 

4.  P— K5  Kt.— K5 

STAUNTON    (WHITE)    VERSUS   COCHRAN    (BLACK). 


WHITE. 

1.  P— K4 

2.  P— QB3 

3.  Kt.— KB3 

4.  KKt.XP 


BLACK. 
P— K4 

P— Q4 
Kt.— KB3 
KKt.XP 


WALKER    (WHITE)  VERSUS    ST.   AM  ANT    (BLACK). 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  P— K4  P— K4. 

2.  P— QB3  P— Q4 

3.  PXP  QXP 


4.  Kt.— KB3. 


KB— QB4 


In  the  game  between  Captain  Evans 
and  the  amateur,  Captain  Evans  was  the 
victor;  in  the  game  between  Staunton  and 
Cochran,  Staunton  won;  and  in  the  game 
between  Walker  and  St.  Amant,  St.  Amant 
won. 


112  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

THE  KING'S  GAMBIT. 

The  King's  Gambit,  the  fourth  of  the 
principal  openings,  is  the  delight  of  the 
Chess  player's  heart  as  it  affords  oppor- 
tunities for  the  most  intricate  and  scien- 
tific combinations  to  which  Chessmen  are 
subject,  and  their  study  gives  the  student 
an  almost  unlimited  fund  of  instruction 
and  entertainment. 

The  variations  of  the  King's  Gambit, 
with  their  specific  names,  are : 

The  King's  Gambit    (Proper). — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  P— KB4  PXP 
The  King's  Knight's  Gambit.— 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  P— KB4  PXP 

3.  Kt.— KB3 

The  Cunningham  Gambit. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  P— KB4  PXP 

3.  Kt.— KB3  B— K3 

The   Salvio  and  Cochrane   Gambit. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  P— KB4  PXP 

3.  Kt.— KB3  P— KKt.4 


CHESS  OPENINGS  113 

4.  KB— QB4  P— KKt.5 

5.  KKt.— K5  Q— R5  (ch.) 

6.  (According    to    Coch- 

rane)  K— Esq.  P— KB6 
6.   (According  to  Salvio) 

K— Bsq.  Kt.— KBsq.  or  KR3 
The  Muzio  Gambit. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  P— KB4  PXP 

3.  KT.— KB3  P— KKt.4 

4.  KB— QB4  P— KKt.5 

5.  0— O,  or  P— Q4  PXKt. 
The  Allgaier  Gambit. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2    P— KB4  PXP 

3.  Kt.— KB3  P— KKt.4 

4.  P— KR4 

The  King's  Rook's  Pawn's  Gambit. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  P— KB4  PXP 

3.  P— KR4 

The  King's  Bishop's  Gambit. — 

1.  P— K4  P— K4 

2.  P— KB4  PXP 

3.  KB— QB4 

THE  GAMBIT  DECLINED. 

When  the  Gambit  is  declined  Black's 
second  move  is  generally  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing : 


114  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

KB— QB4,  P— Q3,  or  P— Q4. 

The  second  move  is  objectionable,  as  it 
confines  the  King's  Bishop,  a  Piece  that 
the  student  will  learn  to  use  with  advan- 
tage. 

THE  QUEEN'S  GAMBIT. 

Another  Chess  opening,  with  which  the 
student  should  be  familiar,  is  the 
QUEEN'S  GAMBIT.  While  it  requires  less 
skill  and  brilliancy  of  play  than  the 
King's  Gambit,  it  is  improving  for  the 
student  to  study,  as  it  offers  him  practice 
in  accuracy  of  play.  It  is  notated 
thus : — • 

1.  P— Q4  P-Q4 

2.  P— QB4  PXP 

When  the  Queen's  Gambit  is  declined, 
Black's  second  move  is  generally  one  of 
the  following: — 

P— K3,  P— QB3,  or  P— KB3. 

IRREGULAR  OPENINGS. 

Before  leaving  the  subject  of  openings, 
a  word  may  be  said  of  IRREGULAR,  OPEN- 


CHESS  OPENINGS  115 

INGS.  They  are  generally  recognized 
as  those  in  which  the  first  move  of 
each  player  is  some  other  than  P — K4,  or 
P — Q4.  Staunton,  however,  classifies 
them  as  those  of  attack,  in  which  the  first 
player's  first  move  is  either  P — KB4  or 
P — QB4  and  those  of  defence  in  which 
the  second  player,  in  answering  the  first 
player's  first  move,  P — K4  or  P — Q4, 
moves  his  P— K3,  P— QB4,  P— KB4,  or 
P— Qkt3. 


CHAPTER  XI 

EJTO  GAMES 

The  student  cannot  give  too  much  time 
to  the  study  of  End  Games,  for  it  is  here 
that  he  can  put  to  the  test  the  information 
that  he  has  acquired  in  studying  the  ele- 
mentary principles  of  play.  The  End 
Game,  he  will  remember,  is  the  third  di- 
vision of  a  game  of  Chess  when  there  are 
so  few  Pieces  and  Pawns  upon  the  board 
that  theoretical  analysis  of  the  moves  has 
again  become  possible.  All  games,  how- 
ever, do  not  reach  this  stage,  as  it  fre- 
quently happens  that  checkmate  is  given 
by  a  strong  combination  of  forces  after  the 
opening  moves,  when  the  Pieces  and 
Pawns  are  so  far  developed  that  the  analy- 
sis of  the  moves  which  characterized  the 
opening  are  no  longer  possible;  but  the 
student  need  not  devote  his  time  to  this 
116 


END  GAMES  117 

part  of  the  game,  as  it  is  treated  in  a  later 
chapter. 

To  illustrate  the  science  of  manipulat- 
ing the  Chessmen,  when  there  are  only  a 
few  left. on  the  board,  the  following  ex- 
amples have  been  selected  from  standard 
works  on  the  subject.  If  the  student  has 
made  a  careful  study  of  the  contents  of 
the  preceding  chapters,  he  will  have  no 
difficulty  in  following  the  moves  and  in 
understanding  the  reasons  for  making 
them. 

The  student  should  have  his  board  set 
up  for  each  example  as  indicated  so  that 
he  can  follow  each  move. 


EXAMPLE-  I. — WHITE  KING  AND  QUEEN 
AGAINST  BLACK  KING. 

The  Black  King  occupies  K4,  the  White 
King  Q3,  and  the  White  Queen  Qsq,  as 
indicated  on  DIAGRAM  xv. 

White  has  the  first  move  and  the  stu- 
dent will  see  that  his  best  plan  of  attack  is 
to  drive  the  adverse  King  into  a  corner 


118  HOW  TO  PLAT  CHESS 


or  to  the  side  of  the  board,  bring  his  own 
King  as  close  as  possible,  and  give  check 


BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XV. 
END  GAME,   EXAMPLE   I. 
King  and  Queen  Against  King. 

with  his  Queen.     As  Black  holds  the  cen- 
ter of-  the  board,  his  position  is  as  good  as 


END  GAMES  119 

possible,  considering  the  odds.  White 
must  be  careful  not  to  give  stalemate. 
The  game  is  won  by  White  in  nine  moves 
and  is  notated  thus : — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  Q^-Kt.4  K— Q4 

2.  Q— K4(ch.)  K— B4 

3.  Q— Q4  (ch.)  K— B3 

4.  K— B4  K— Kt.2 

5.  Q— Q6  K— R2 

6.  K— Kt.5  K— Kt.2 

7.  Q— Q7  (ch.)  K— Kt. 

8.  K— Kt.6  K— Rsq. 

9.  Q— Q8,  (mate). 

The  student  will  note  that,  for  White's 
ninth  play,  there  were  four  other  moves 
which  he  might  have  made,  all  of  which 
would  have  enabled  him  to  win  the  game ; 
they  are  Q— Kt.  7,  Q— B8,  Q— Q8  or 
Q— K8. 

This  example  of  an  End  Game  illus- 
trates the  importance  of  the  Queen  as  a 
mating  force,  and  also  illustrates,  to  the 
student,  how  important  it  is  for  him  to 
protect  her  so  that  he  can  use  her  in  just 


120  HOW  TO  PLAY  CllEtiti 

such  methods  of  attack  as  were  seen  in 
the  moves  just  notated.  Black,  having 
neither  a  Piece  nor  a  Pawn  on  the  board, 
could  only  hope  to  win  by  a  drawn  game 
if  White  had  given  a  stalemate. 

EXAMPLE.  II. —  WHITE  KING  AND  ROOK 
AGAINST  BLACK  KING. 

The  Black  King  occupies  QKt.4,  the 
White  King  QKt.  sq.,  and  the  White 
Rook  QRsq.,  as  indicated  on  DIAGRAM  xvi. 

This  example  illustrates  the  strength  of 
the  Rook  as  a  mating  force  and,  as  in  the 
former  example,  White's  method  of  attack 
is  to  corner  the  adverse  King.  The  posi- 
tion is  in  White's  favor,  as  Black  is  al- 
ready near  the  side  of  the  board.  The 
moves  of  the  Rook,  however,  are  more  re- 
stricted than  those  of  the  Queen,  so  it 
takes  eleven  moves  before  White  can  give 
checkmate.  The  game  is  notated  thus : — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  K— Kt.2  K— B5 

2.  R— Qsq.!  K— B4 

3.  K— B3  K— Kt.4 


END  GAMES 


121 


WHITE.  BLACK. 

4.  R— Q5  (ch.)       •  K— B3 

5.  K— B4  K— Kt.3 

6.  R— Q6  (ch.)  K— B2. 

7.  K— B5  K— Kt.2 

BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XVI. 
END  GAME,  EXAMPLE  II. 
King  and  Rook  against  King. 


8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 


R— Q7    (ch.) 

K— B6. 

R— Q4 

R— R4,   (mate). 


K— R3 
K— R4 
K— R3. 


122  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

If  the  student  will  go  over  these  moves 
again,  he  will  see  that  White,  in  his  sec- 
ond turn,  could  have  given  check  by  play- 
ing R — QBsq.,  but  that  would  have  forced 
the  King  to  play  to  Q5,  which  would 
have  enabled  him  to  get  into  the  center 
of  the  board,  which  is  just  where  White 
did  not  want  him ;  hence  the  move  K — 
Qsq.  was  an  excellent  play.  The  stu- 
dent also  sees  that  Black's  ninth  and  tenth 
moves  were  forced  moves,  as  White  had 
left  him  no  choice.  While  illustrating  the 
use  of  the  Hook  in  the  End  Game,  this 
example  also  shows  the  student  that  it 
is  sometimes  better  to  let  what  appears 
to  be  a  good  move  go  by,  for  if  White  had 
taken  advantage  of  his  opportunity  to  give 
check  it  would  have  taken  him  a  long  time 
to  force  his  adversary  to  the  side  of  the 
board  again.  When  the  player  has  a 
choice  of  moves  he  should  always  consider 
the  consequences  and  deliberate  carefully 
before  he  plays. 


END  GAMES  123 

EXAMPLE    III. —  WHITE    KING,    BISHOP 

AND  KNIGHT  AGAINST  BLACK 

KING  AND  PAWN. 

The  White  King  occupies  QB6,  the 
White  Bishop  Q6,  the  White  Knight  Q7, 
the  Black  King  QR3  and  the  Black  Pawn 
QKt.4,  as  indicated  on  DIAGRAM  xvn. 

The  Knight  is  generally  used  to  best 
advantage  in  the  Middle  Game,  as  his 
progress  is  not  hampered  by  intervening 
forces,  but  in  this  illustration  of  an  End 
Game,  he  is  used  most  successfully  in  con- 
junction with  the  Bishop.  The  student 
will  see  that  Black's  only  hope  lies  in 
queening  his  Pawn,  for  then  he  will  be  as 
well  off  as  if  he  had  not  already  lost  his 
Queen.  His  efforts  are  in  vain,  however, 
for  White  wins  in  six  moves.  The  game 
is  notated  thus : — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  B— Kt.4  K— R2 

2.  B— B5  (ch.)  K— R.! 

3.  K— Kt.6  P— Kt.5 

4.  K— R6  P— Kt.6 

5.  B— Q6  P— Kt.7 
6  Kt.— Kt.  6,   (mate). 


124  HOW  TO  PLAT  CHESS 

This   example   also   illustrates   White's 
attacking  method  of  forcing  his  Opponent 


BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XVII. 

END  GAME,  EXAMPLE  III. 

King,  Bishop,  and  Knight  against  King  and  Pawn. 


into  the  corner  in  order  to  checkmate  him. 


END  GAMES  125 

EXAMPLE  IV. —  WHITE  KING  AND  PAWN 
AGAINST  BLACK  KING. 

The  White  King  occupies  Ksq.,  the 
White  Pawn  K2,  and  the  Black  King 
Ksq.,  as  indicated  on  DIAGRAM  xvm. 

The  student  will  note  that  both  Kings 
occupy  their  original  positions  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  game.  White  has  the  ad- 
vantage, having  a  Pawn,  but  his  success 
depends  upon  his  ability  to  queen  it. 
This  illustration  is  interesting,  as  it  takes 
White  twelve  moves  in  order  to  win, 
when  he  plays  first ;  while  if  Black  has  the 
first  move,  White  gives  stalemate  in  the 
fifteenth  move  and  the  game  is  a  draw. 
If  White  moves  first  the  game  is  notated 
thus : — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  K— B2  K— Esq. 

2.  K— K3  K— K2 

3.  K— K4  K— K3 

4.  P— K3  K— Q3 

5.  K— B5  K— K2 

6.  K— K5  K— B2 

7.  K— Q6  K— B3 

8.  P— K4  K— B2 


126 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


WHITE.  BLACK. 

9.  P— K5  K— Ksq. 

10.  K— K6  K— Esq. 

11.  K— Q7  K— B2 

12.  P— K6  (ch.)  Resigns 

BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XVIII. 

END  GAME,  EXAMPLE  IV. 

King  and  Pawn  against  King. 

Black  has  to  move  to  avoid  the  check 
and  as  White  can  Queen  his  Pawn  in  two 


END  GAMES  127 

moves  and  as  the  White  King  is  so  situ- 
ated that  he  protects  the  Pawn  until  it  is 
Queened,  there  is  nothing  of  advantage  to 
Black  that  he  can  do. 

If  Black  had  had  the  first  move,  the 
game  would  have  resulted  in  a  stalemate 
after  White's  fifteenth  move.  It  is  no- 
tated  thus : — 


WHITE. 

BLACK. 

1      

K—  K2 

2.  K—  B2 

K—  B3 

3.  K—  K3 

K—  K4 

4.  K—  Q3 

K—  Q4 

5.  P—  K4  (ch.) 

K—  K4 

6.  K—  K3 

K—  K3 

7.  K—  B4 

K—  B3 

8.  P—  K5  (ch.) 

K—  K3 

9.  K—  K4 

K—  K2 

10.  K—  Q5 

K—  Q2 

11.  P—  K6  (ch.) 

K—  K2 

12.  K—  K5 

K—  Ksq. 

13.  K—  B6 

K—  Bsq. 

14.  P—  K7(ch.) 

K—  Ksq. 

15.  K—  K6   (stalemate). 

EXAMPLE.  V. —  WHITE  KING   AND   Two 

BISHOPS  AGAINST  BLACK  KING. 
The    White    King   occupies    Ksq.,    the 
White  King's  Bishop  KBsq.,  the  White 


128 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


Queen's  Bishop  QBsq.  and  the  Black  King 
Ksq.?  as  indicated  on  DIAGRAM  xix. 


BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XIX. 

END  GAME,  EXAMPLE  V. 

King  and  Two  Bishops  against  King. 

The  student  will  note  that  each  Piece 
occupies  its  original  position  at  the  begin- 


END  GAMES  129 

ning  of  the  game.  White's  method  of  at- 
tack is  to  force  his  adversary  into  a  cor- 
ner square  or  into  one  that  adjoins  a  cor- 
ner and  then  checkmate  with  the  Bishop 
that  is  on  the  square  in  the  same  diag- 
onal. White  can  accomplish  this  in  four- 
teen moves.  The  game  is  notated  thus : — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  B— KR3  K— Qsq. 

2.  B— KB4  K— K2 

3.  K— K2  K—KB3 

4.  K— KB3  K— K2 

5.  B— KB5  K— KB3 

6.  K— KKt.4  K— -K2 

7.  K— KKt.5  K— Qsq. 

8.  K— KB6  K— Ksq. 

9.  B— QB7  K— Bsq. 

10.  B— Q7  K— Kt.sq. 

11.  K— KKt.6  K—Bsq. 

12.  B— Q6(ch.)  K— Kt.sq. 

13.  B— K6(ch.)  K— Esq. 

14.  B— K5    (mate). 

The  possibilities  for  Black  to  win  in 
this  game  are  so  small  that  the  only  thing 
for  him  to  do  is  to  move  back  and  forth, 
postponing  White's  victory  as  long  as  pos- 
sible. There  are  many  instances,  how- 


130  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

ever,  where  the  odds  are  in  favor  of  one 
player,  which  result  in  a  drawn  game  be- 
cause the  lone  King  cannot  be  forced  from 
some  advantageous  position  that  he  has 
gained. 

EXAMPLE.    VI. —  WHITE    KING,    BISHOP 
AND  PAWN  AGAINST  BLACK  KING. 

The  White  King  occupies  KB4,  the 
White  Bishop  K2,  the  White  Pawn  KK5 
and  the  Black  King  Qsq.,  as  indicated  on 

DIAGRAM  XX. 

This  Example  illustrates  a  drawn  game, 
White  having  the  advantage  in  numbers 
and  Black  the  advantage  in  position.  Un- 
like most  of  the  other  illustrative  End 
Game  positions,  White's  hope  of  winning 
lies  in  his  ability  to  keep  the  adverse  King 
from  getting  in  a  corner  and  this  is  just 
what,  he  succeeds  in  doing.  The  game  is 
drawn  after  Black's  fifth  "move.  Black 
plays  first.  The  game  is  notated  thus: — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1 K— K2 

2.  B— B4  K— B3 


END  GAMES 


131 


WHITE. 

3.  B— Q5 

4.  K— Kt.5 

5.  P— R6 


BLACK. 

K— Kt.2 
K— Rsq. 
K— R2 


BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XX. 

END  GAME,  EXAMPLE  VI. 

King,   Bishop   and   Pawn   against  King. 

As  White  cannot  force  Black  to  leave 
his  corner,  the  game  is  drawn. 


CHAPTER  XII 

MIDDLE   GAMES 

The  Middle  Game,  as  the  student  has 
already  learned,  is  that  stage  of  a  game  of 
Chess  when  the  Pieces  and  Pawns  are  so 
far  developed  that  theoretical  analysis  is  no 
longer  possible,  as  it  was  in  the  opening 
moves.  At  this  point,  all  of  the  player's 
skill  in  the  art  and  science  of  combina- 
tion is  put  to  the  test  and  many  of  the 
most  brilliant  Chess  players  are  able  to 
give  mate  without  letting  the  game  reach 
what  the  student  has  already  learned  to 
be  End  Game  positions.  It  is  of  particu- 
lar importance,  therefore,  for  the  student 
to  give  the  contents  of  this  chapter  care- 
ful attention,  following  the  moves  on  his 
own  board  and  studying  out  variations  for 
himself.  Only  in  this  way  can  he  mas- 
132 


MIDDLE  GAMES  133 

ter  the  difficulties  which  confront  the  ama- 
teur in  Middle  Game  positions. 

The  student  should  arrange  his  board 
for  each  example  as  indicated  in  the  DIA- 
GRAMS and  follow  each  move. 

EXAMPLE.  I. — Position  developed  from 
a  Euy  Lopez  Gambit. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged  thus: 
K  on  KKt.sq.,  B  on  QKt.3,  Kt.  on  K5, 
Es  on  QKsq.,  and  Qsq.,  Ps  on  KR2, 
KKt.2,  KB3,  QB4  and  QKt.5. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged  thus : 
K  on  KBsq.,  Kts.  on  KB3,  and  K2,  Rs  on 
Ksq.  and  QR2  and  Ps  on  KR3,  KKt.2, 
KB4,  QKt.3,  and  QR4.  (See  DIAGRAM 

XXI.) 

White  has  the  first  move  and  wins  after 
his  ninth  move  as  Black  resigns.  The 
game  is  notated  thus: 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  P— B5!  PXP 

2.  R— Q6!  R— Kt.sq 

3.  QR— Qsq.  R(R2)— Rsq 

4.  P— Kt.6  P— R5 

5.  BXP  K— Kt.sq. 

6.  Kt— B6  KtXKt. 


134 


HOTF  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


WHITE.  BLACK. 

7.  BXKt.   (dis.  ch.).  Kt— Ksq. 

8.  P— Kt.7!  R— R2 

9.  R— Q8.  Resigns. 

BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XXI 
MIDDLE   GAME,   EXAMPLE    I. 

White  has  to  make  the  most  of  the  posi- 
tion of  the  adverse  King,  which  he  does 
most  successfully  in  his  first  four  moves, 


MIDDLE  GAMES  135 

though  in  his  fifth  move  he  might  have 
played  B— B4,  still  holding  the  King, 
which  would  have  been  even  stronger  than 
the  move  he  made.  His  eighth  move, 
however,  is  good  and  he  wins  easily  after 
his  ninth  play  as  Black  cannot  escape. 

EXAMPLE  II. —  From  a  match  between 
Morphy  and  Harrwitz.  It  is  considered 
a  model  of  its  kind  and  unsurpassed  in 
the  history  of  the  game. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged  thus : 
K  on  KKt.sq.,  R  on  QKt.8,  Kt.  on  Q8, 
and  Ps  on  QR3,  Q5,  K3,  KB4,  KKt,2 
and  KR2. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged  thus : 
K  on  K2,  B  on  Q2,  R  on  QR3  and  Ps 
on  QB4,  Q3,  K5,  KB4,  KKt.2  and  KR5. 
(See  DIAGRAM  xxn.) 

Black  (Morphy)  has  the  first  move  and 
wins.  The  Game  is  notated  thus : 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1 P— B5! 

2.  K— B2  P— B6 

3.  K— K2  RXP 

4.  Kt.— B6(ch.)  BXKt. 


136 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


"WHITE. 

5.  PXB 

6.  K— Q2 

7.  K— Esq. 


BLACK. 

P—  B7! 


RXBP 


WHITE. 


BLACK. 

DIAGRAM  XXII. 
MIDDLE  GAME,  EXAMPLE  II. 


8.  R— Kt.3 

9.  R— R3 
10.  P— Kt.3 


K— B3 
P— Kt.4 
RPXP 


MIDDLE  GAMES  137 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

11.  RPXP  PXP 

12.  Kt.PXP  K— KT.3 

13.  R— R5  R— B4 

14.  R— R6  R— B6 

15.  RXP(ch.)  K— R4 

16.  R— Q2  K— Kt.5 

17.  R— Kt.2(ch.)  K— B6 

18.  R— Kt.5  R— B4 

19.  R— R5  KXP 

20.  R— R4  K— B6,     etc.     win- 

ning easily. 

The  student  will  note  that  Black  has 
made  such  brilliant  combinations  with  his 
forces  that  there  is  almost  nothing  for 
White  to  do  but  move  his  Rook  back  and 
forth  from  one  square  to  another. 

EXAMPLE.  III. —  Position  developed 
from  a  Ruy  Lopez  Gambit. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus:— K  on  KRsq.,  Q  on  QB4,  R  on 
Qsq.,  Kt.  on  Q5  and  Ps  on  KR2,  KKt.2 
KB3,  K4,  QKt.3  and  QR2. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus: — K  on  KKt.sq.,  Q  on  Qsq.,  R  on 
QBsq.,  Kt,  on  Q5  and  Ps  on  Kr2,  KKt.2, 


138 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


KB2,  Q3,  QB4  and  QE4.    (See  DIAGRAM 

XXIII.) 


BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM   XXIII. 
MIDDLE    GAME,    EXAMPLE    III. 

White  has  the  first  move  and  wins  for 
Black's  position  is  hopeless  after  White's 
ninth  move.  The  game  is  notated  thus : — 


MIDDLE  GAMES  139 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  RXKt.!  PXR 

2.  Kt.~ K7(ch.)!  QXKt. 

3.  QXR(ch.)  Qh-Bsq. 

4.  QXQ(ch.)  KXQ 
5..K— Kt.sq.  K— K2 

6.  K— B2  P— Q4 

7.  P— K5  K— K3 

8.  K— K2  KXP 

9.  K— Q3    and  wins. 

The  student  will  note  that,  for  White's 
second  play,  he  might  have  moved  Q  X  K> 
but  if  he  had  made  that  play,  although 
he  would  have  captured  an  adverse  Piece, 
it  would  have  lost  him  the  game. 

EXAMPLE.  IV. —  Position  developed 
from  a  Giuoco  Piano. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus: — K  on  KBsq.,  Q  on  K5,  Es  on  K8 
and  KB5,  B  on  Qkt.3,  and  Ps  on  KE4, 
KKt.3,  K4,  QB3,  QKt.4,  and  QE2. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus: — K  on  KE3,  Q  on  KKt.  3,  Es  on 
KKt.5  and  Q7,  Kt.  on  KE2,  and  Ps  on 
KE4,  KB2,  QB2,  QKt.2  and  QKt.3. 
(See  DIAGRAM  xxiv.) 


140 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


White  plays  first  and  wins.     The  game 
is  notated  thus: — - 


BLACK. 


i 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XXIV. 
MIDDLE    GAME,   EXAMPLE    IV. 


WHITE. 

1.  R— KKt.8! 

2.  RxP(ch.) 

3.  Q— KB5(ch.) 


BLACK. 
QXR 

K— KKt3 
K— KKt.2 


MIDDLE  GAMES 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

4.  QXR(ch.)  K—  Esq. 

5.  Q—  KB4  Q—  Qsq. 

6.  B—  Q5  R—  QKt.7 

7.  QxKBP  and  wins. 


The  student  will  see  that  White  made 
splendid  combinations  with  his  forces  so 
that  Black  was  quite  powerless  to  resist 
them.  Under  the  circumstances,  Black 
did  the  best  he  could. 

EXAMPLE  V.  —  Game  developed  from  a 
Lopez  Gambit  and  played  between  Mac- 
kenzie and  Steinitz. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus:  —  K  on  KRsq.,  Q  on  KB2,  E  on 
KBsq.,  Bs  on  KKt.5  and  QB2  and  Ps  on 
KR2,  KKt2,  QB3,  QKt.2  and  QR2. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus:  —  K  on  KKtsq.,  Q  on  QB3,  R  on 
Ksq.,  Bs  on  KKt.2,  and  QKt.2,  and  Ps 
on  KE2,  KKt.3,  KB2,  Q4,  QB5,  QKt.4 
and  QR3.  (See  DIAGRAM  xxv.) 

Black  plays  first  and  the  game  results  in 
perpetual  check  after  White's  sixth  move. 
The  game  is  notated  thus:  — 


142  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHES8 


WHITE. 
1 

2.  PXP 

3.  QXP(ch.) 


BLACK. 
P— Q5? 

BXP 
K— KRs 


BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XXV. 
MIDDLE   GAME,  EXAMPLE  V. 


4.  B— K4! 

5.  B— B6(ch.) 

6.  QXB(ch.) 


QXB 
BXB 


MIDDLE  GAMES  143 

This  example  of  a  Middle  Game  posi- 
tion resulting  in  a  perpetual  check  is  most 
ingenious  and  must  have  been  wholly  un- 
expected to  the  players.  While  Black  had 
the  original  advantage,  he  lost  it  by  his 
first  move.  His  object,  evidently,  was  to 
queen  his  Pawn,  but  his  first  move  was 
weak  and  caused  him  to  lose  what  he  had 
gained  by  his  opening  moves. 

EXAMPLE  VI. —  Illustrates  the  advan- 
tages and  disadvantages  of  open  files. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus:— K  on  QBsq.,  Q  on  QB4,  Kt.  on 
KR4,  Rs  on  KRsq.  and  Qsq.,  and  Ps  on 
KKt.2,  KKt.4,  K5,  QB3  and  QR2. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus :—  K  on  KRsq.,  Q  on  KB2,  Kt.  on 
QR3,  Rs  on  QRsq.  and  KBsq.,  and  Ps 
on  KR2,  KKt.2,  QB3,  QKt.2  and  QR2. 
(See  DIAGRAM  xxvi.) 

The  student  will  note  from  the  position 
of  White's  King  that  the  player  has  evi- 
dently castled  with  his  QR.  White  plays 


144  HOW  TO  PLAT  CHESS 

first  and  mates  in  five  moves.     The  game 
is  notated  thus : — 


BIACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XXVI. 
MIDDLE  GAME,  EXAMPLE  VI. 


WHITE. 

1.  QR— Esq. 

2.  Kt.— Kt.6(ch.) 


BLACK. 

QXQ 
K— Kt.sq. 


MIDDLE  GAMES  145 

WHITE.  BLACK.. 

3.  Kt.— K7(ch.)  K— Rsq. 

4.  RXP(ch.)  KXR 

5.  R— Rsq.   (mate). 

The  error  in  Black's  play  was  to  take 
the  adverse  Queen,  as  it  made  an  opening 
in  the  guard  of  his  King  that  he  could  not 
repair.  The  open  files  were  an  advantage 
to  White,  but  they  were  fatal  to  Black. 

EXAMPLE:  VII. —  Position  developed 
from  a  Petroff's  (Russian)  Defense. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus:— K  on  KKt.sq.,  Q  on  QKt.7,  QKt. 
on  QKt.sq.,  KKt,  on  KB3,  QB  on  QBsq., 
KB  on  Q3  and  Ps  on  KE2,  KKt.2,  KB2, 
Q4,  QKt.  2  and  QE,2. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus: — 'K  on  KKt.sq.,  Q  on  Qsq.,  Es  on 
QEsq.  and  KBsq.,  Kts.  on  K5  and  Q2,  Bs 
on  Q3  and  K3,  and  Ps  on  KE2,  KKt.2, 
KB4,  QB5,  QB2  and  QE2.  (See  DIA- 
GRAM XXVII.) 

White  plays  first,  but  Black  wins.  The 
game  is  notated  thus : — 


146 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


WHITE. 

1.  BXKt. 

2.  QxRP 

3.  Kt— Kt.5 


BLACK. 

QR— Kt.sq. 
PXB 
B— Q4 


BLACK. 


WHITE. 

DIAGRAM  XXVII. 
MIDDLE  GAME,  EXAMPLE  VII. 


4.  Q— R5 

5.  Q— B3 

6.  Kt.— KR3 


Kt.— B3 
P— R3 
Kt,— Kt.5 


MIDDLE  GAMES  147 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

7.  P— KKt.3  Q— Ksq. 

8.  Kt.— B4  BXKt. 

9.  BXB  Q— R4 

10.  P— KR4  RXB! 

11.  PXR  P— K6 

12.  P— B3  QXRP  and  wins. 

White  made  a  poor  play  in  his  second 
move  by  taking  the   Pawn.     He   should 
have    moved    to    QK6,    after    which    the 
Queen  could  have  been  played  to  QR4  and 
with  the  Knight  on  QKt.sq.,  a  good  attack 
could  have  been  developed.     The  capture, 
however,  only  lost  time  and  enabled  Black 
to  gather  his  forces  for  an  attack  on  the 
White  King.     As  it  is,  White  has  to  try 
to  save  his  Queen  and  cannot  develop  his 
QKt.     The   student   will  note,   in  going 
over  the  moves  in  this  game,  that  White 
does  not  give  check  once,  and  that  Black 
also  gathers  his  forces  for  the  attack  in 
such  a  way  that  he  does  not  give  check  un- 
til there  is  no  escape  for  his  adversary. 
Black's    moves    are    carefully    made    and 
should  be  studied. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

CONCLUSION 

When  the  student  has  reached  this  con- 
cluding chapter,  he  should  have  a  thor- 
ough knowledge  of  the  general  principles 
of  the  moves,  and  understand  the  laws  of 
the  game.  He  should  also  be  sufficiently 
familiar  with  the  Openings  and  with  End 
and  Middle  Game  positions  to  meet,  and 
compete  favorably,  with  the  average  Chess 
player.  In  fact,  there  is  no  elementary 
point  that  can  be  discussed  in  a  hand  book 
on  the  game,  that  has  not  been  explained 
and  illustrated.  But  for  that  skill  and 
scientific  knowledge  that  distinguishes 
the  professional  from  the  amateur,  he 
must  play  frequently  with  experienced 
players  and  also  study  the  books  that  are 
devoted  to  some  one  particular  feature  of 
the  game.  A  number  of  titles  are  given 
148 


CONCLUSION  149 

in  the  Bibliography  which  will  prove  help- 
ful to  the  student  who  wishes  to  go  more 
deeply  into  the  subject. 

Before  closing,  however,  the  student 
may  be  interested  in  working  out  some 
Chess  problems  for  himself,  and  for  this 
reason  several  have  been  selected  from 
Curious  Chess  Problems  in  one  of  Staun- 
ton's  books. 

If  the  student  cannot  solve  these  prob- 
lems, after  he  has  given  them  a  fair  trial, 
he  will  find  a  Key  following  them. 

CHESS  PROBLEMS. 

PROBLEM  I. —  White,  playing  first, 
mates  in  seven  moves. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus: — K  on  Qsq.,  Kts.  on  QKt.3,  and 
KB7,  B  on  QKt.7,  and  Ps  on  QR2, 
QKt.2,  K4,  KB2,  and  KKt.7. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus: — K  on  QB5,  R  on  KKt.sq.,  Kt,  on 
QB2,  B  on  QKtsq.,  and  Ps  on  QKt,5, 
QB4,  K4,  and  KR2. 


150  HOW  TO  PLAT  CHESS 

PROBLEM  II. —  White,  playing  first, 
compels  Black  to  mate  him  in  fourteen 
moves. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus:—  K  on  KBsq.,  Q  on  QKt.3,  Es  on 
QKt.sq.  and  QBsq.,  Kts  on  QKt.8  and 
QB5,  Bs  on  QB3  and  KE5,  and  Ps  on 
Q2,  KB4,  KKt.2  and  KE2. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus : —  K  on  Ksq.,  Q  on  K8,  Kts.  on 
QBsq.  and  KKt.8,  Bs  on  QE4  and  KEG, 
Es  on  K5  and  KB6,  and  Ps  on  Q6  and 
KB2. 

PROBLEM  III. —  White,  playing  first, 
mates  in  six  moves. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus: — K  on  QEsq.,  Bs  on  QBsq.  and 
KE5,  Kt.  on  K2,  and  Ps  on  QE2  and 
KKt.6. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus:— K  on  KEsq.,  B  on  KKt.2,  E  on 
Q5,  Kt.  on  QB6,  and  Ps  on  QE6,  QKt.6, 
KKt.4  and  KE3. 

PROBLEM  IV. —  White,  playing  first, 
compels  Black  to  mate  him  in  eight  moves. 


CONCLUSION  151 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus: — K  on  Ksq.,  Q  on  K8,  Kts.  on 
KKt.3  and  Q4,  Es  on  QEsq.  and  K7,  Bs 
on  QE2  and  KB8,  and  Ps  on  KB2,  K5, 
QB2  and  QKt.2. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus:— K  on  QE3,  Q  on  QB5.,  Kts.  on 
QKt.  2  and  Q4,  Es  on  Q3  and  QE5,  and 
Ps  on  KKt.5  and  KB6. 

PROBLEM  V. —  White,  playing  first, 
mates  in  four  moves. 

White's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus: — K  on  Ksq.,  E  on  QBsq.,  B  on 
QKt.4,  Kts.  on  QKt.7  and  Q7  and  Ps  on 
QB6  and  QKt.3. 

Black's  forces  should  be  arranged 
thus:— K  on  K3,  E  on  KB4,  Kt.  on 
iKE5,  Bs  on  KE6  and  KKt.8,  and  Ps  on 
KB6  and  K5. 

In  trying  to  solve  these  Problems,  the 
student  will  find  it  helpful  to  notate  his 
moves  each  time  he  tries,  as  it  will  save 
him,  from  repetition  and  will  also  help  him 
to  find  where  his  judgment  has  been  at 
fault  if  he  fails. 


152 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHE 88 


KEY  TO  CHESS  PROBLEMS. 


PROBLEM  I. 


WHITE. 


BLACK. 


1.  Kt.— Q6(ch.) 

2.  P— QR3 

3.  P— KKt.8  (Becomes 

a  Queen) 

4.  Kt.— QBsq.(ch.) 

5.  K— Q2. 

6.  QRPXP 

7.  Mates. 

PROBLEM  II. 


K— Q6 

R^Qsq. 

RXQ 

K  removes. 
P— QB5 
Where  he  will. 


1.  QXP(ch.) 

K—Qsq. 

2.  BXB(ch.) 

Kt.—  QKt.3 

3.  BXKt.(ch.) 

K—  QBsq. 

4.  Q—  KB8(ch.) 

R—  Ksq. 

5.  QXR(ch.) 

QXQ 

6.  Kt.onBS—  Q7  (dis. 

K—  Kt.2 

ch.) 

7.  BxKt.  (dis.ch.) 

K—  Rsq. 

8.  BXR(ch.) 

Q  interposes. 

9.  PXB 

Q—  Q4 

10.  B—  K4 

Q—  QB3 

11.  B—  Q4 

Q—  QKt2 

12.  R—  Qsq. 

Q—  QB3 

13.  Ki^-QR6 

Q—  Kt.2 

14.  B—  QR6 

Q  X  B  (  Forced  move, 

(mate) 

PROBLEM  III 

1.  P—  QKt.7(ch.) 

BXP 

2.  R—  Q7 

Kt.XKt.! 

CONCLUSION  153 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

3.  RXB  Kt.— Qsq. 

4.  R— QKtsq.(dis.ch.)  Kt.— QKt.2 

5.  RXKt.  Where  he  will. 

6.  R— QKt.sq(dis.ch.) 

Mate. 

PROBLEM  IV. 

1.  Q— QR8(ch.)  K— Kt.3 

2.  RXKt.(ch.)  K  removes. 

3.  BXR(ch.)  KXKt. 

4.  0— 0— 0(ch.)  Q— Q6 

5.  QXR(ch.)  Kt.— QKt.5 
a.  K— Kt.sq.  Q— Q7! 

7.  P— QB3(ch.)  K— Q6 

8.  QXKt.  QXR  (Mate) 

(Forced  move) 

PROBLEM  V. 

1.  Kt— Q8(ch.)  K— Q4 

2.  0— 0— O(ch.)  B  interposes 

3.  B — QB5  Any  move. 

4.  RXB   (mate). 

EXAMPLES  OF  MASTER-PLAY. 

The  importance  of  going  over  examples 
of  master-play  has  already  been  impressed 
upon  the  student  and,  for  this  reason,  sev- 
eral games  have  been  selected  that  the  stu- 
dent should  play  over  on  his  own  board. 
He  should  have  no  difficulty  in  seeing  why 


154 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


each  move  is  made  and  in  understanding 
the  methods  of  attack  and  defense  that  are 
used. 


EXAMPLE;  I. —  Opened  with  a  Fianchet- 
to  Defense,  and  played  between  Paulsen 
(White)  and  "Alter"  (Black),  in  Lon- 
don in  1862. 

White  plays  first  and  gives  mate  with 
his  twenty-fourth  move.  The  game  is  no- 
tated  thus : — 


WHITE. 

1.  P— K4. 

2.  P— KKt3. 

3.  B— Kt2. 

4.  Kt— QB3. 

5.  KKt— K2. 

6.  P— Q3. 

7.  0—0. 

8.  KtXB. 

9.  KtXP. 

10.  Q— R5(ch.) 

11.  Q— K5. 

12.  PXKt. 

13.  Q— B3. 

14.  B— R6. 

15.  P— B4. 

16.  PXP. 


BLACK. 

P— QKt3. 
P— K3. 
B— Kt2. 
P— KB4. 
Kt— KB3. 
B— Kt5. 
BXKt. 
PXP. 
KtXKt. 
P— Kt3. 
0—0. 
Kt— QB3. 
P— K4. 
R— B2. 
B— R3. 
BXR. 


CONCLUSION  155 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

17.  RXB.        x  Q— K2. 

18.  RXR.  QXR. 

19.  P— K6.  Q— K2. 

20.  PXP.  Kt— K4. 

21.  B— R3.  P— KKt4. 

22.  QXP,  P— Kt5. 

23.  P  queens  (ch.)  QXQ. 

24.  Q— Kt7(mate). 

EXAMPLE  II. —  Opened  with  a  King's 
Bishop's  Gambit,  and  played  between  Kie- 
seritzky  (White)  and  Anderssen  (Black). 

White  plays  first  and  mates  in  his 
twenty-third  move.  The  game  is  notated 
thus : — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  P— K4.  P— K4 

2.  P— KB4.  PXP. 

3.  B— B4.  Q— R5(ch.). 

4.  K— Bsq.  P— QKt4. 

5.  BXKtP.  Kt— KB3. 

6.  Kt— KB3.  Q— R3. 

7.  P— Q3.  Kt— R4. 

8.  Kt— R4.  Q— Kt4. 

9.  Kt— B5.  P— QB3. 

10.  P— KKt4.  Kt— B3. 

11.  R— Ktsq.  PXB. 

12.  P— KR4.  Q— Kt3. 

13.  P— R5.  Q— Kt4, 


156  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

14.  Q— B3.  Kt— Ktsq. 

15.  BXP.  Q— B3. 

16.  Kt— B3.  B— B4. 

17.  Kt— Q5.  QXP. 

18.  B— Q6.  BXR. 

19.  P— K5.  QXR(ch.). 

20.  K— K2.  Kt— QR3. 

21.  KtXP(ch.).  K— Qsq. 

22.  Q— B6(ch.) 
Mates  in  next  move. 

This  game  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
brilliant  on  record  and  is  known  among 
Chess  players  as  the  "  Immortal  Game." 

EXAMPLE  III. —  Opened  from  a  Guioco 
Piano  and  played  between  Neuman 
(White)  and  Von  Guretzky-Cornitz 
(Black),  in  Berlin  in  1863. 

White  plays  first,  and  after  seventeen 
moves,  Black  resigns.  The  game  is  no- 
tated  thus : — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  P— K4.  P— K4. 

2.  Kt— KB3.  Kt— QB3. 

3.  B— B4.  B— B4. 

4.  P— B3.  Kt— B3. 

5.  P— Q4.  PXP. 

6.  0—0.  KtXP. 


CONCLUSION  157 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

7.  PXP.  B— K2. 

8.  P— Q5.  Kt— QKtsq. 

9.  R— Ksq.  Kt— Q3. 

10.  B— Kt3.  O— 0. 

11.  Kt— B3.  Kt— Ksq. 

12.  P— Q6.  PXP. 

13.  RXB.  QXR. 

14.  B— Kt5.  Kt— KB3. 

15.  Kt— Q5.  Q— Q  sq. 

16.  Q— Q4.  Kt— B3. 

17.  Q— QR4.  Resigns. 

EXAMPLE  IV. —  Opened  with  a  French 
Defense  and  played  between  Blackburne 
(White)  and  Schwarz  (Black)  at  the 
Berlin  Congree  in  1881. 

White  plays  first  and  Black  resigns 
after  the  twenty-eighth  move.  The  game 
is  notated  thus: — 

WHITE.  BLACK. 

1.  p_K4.  P— K3. 

2.  P— Q4.  P— Q4. 

3.  Kt— QB3.  Kt— KB3. 

4.  PXP.  PXP. 

5.  Kt— B3.  B— Q3. 

6.  B— Q3.  P— B3. 

7.  0—0.  O— O. 

8.  Kt— K2.  B— KKt5. 

9.  Kt— Kt3.  Q— B2. 


158 


HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 


WHITE. 

10.  B— K3. 

11.  Q— Q2. 

12.  QR— Ksq. 

13.  Q— Esq. 

14.  PXB. 

15.  RPXKt. 

16.  K— Kt2. 

17.  R— Rsq. 

18.  R— R3. 

19.  QR— Rsq. 

20.  B— KKt5. 

21.  P— QB4. 

22.  BXBP. 

23.  R— R4. 

24.  B— Kt3. 

25.  B— B6. 

26.  QXKt. 

27.  RXP. 

28.  RXP. 


BLACK. 

QKt— Q2. 
KR— K  sq. 
Kt— K5. 
BXKKt. 
KtXKt. 
BXP. 
B— Q3. 
Kt>-B  sq. 
P— KKt3. 
QR— Q  sq. 
R— Q2. 
PXP. 
P— KR4. 
P— Kt4. 
Kt— K3. 
Kt— B5(ch.) 
BXQ. 
PXR. 
Resigns. 


The  final  combination  of  forces  in  this 
game  is  said  to  be  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
on  record,  and  rarely  surpassed  in  actual 
play. 

EXAMPLE  V. —  Opened  with  a  Phili- 
dor's  Defense,  and  played  between  Morphy 
(White)  and  Allies  (Black)  in  1858. 

White  plays  first  and  mates  in  seventeen 
moves.  The  game  is  notated  thus:— 


CONCLUSION 


159 


WHITE. 

1.  P-4K. 

2.  Kt— KB3. 

3.  P— Q4. 

4.  PXP. 

5.  QXB. 

6.  B— QB4. 

7.  Q— QKt3. 

8.  Kt— B3. 

9.  B— KKt5. 

10.  KtXP. 

11.  BXQKtP    (ch.). 

12.  O— O^-O 

13.  RXKt. 

14.  R— Qsq. 

15.  BXR(ch.) 

16.  Q— Kt8(ch.). 

17.  R— Q8(mate). 


BLACK. 
P— K4. 
P— Q3. 

B— Kt5. 
BXKt. 
PXP. 
Kt— KB3. 
Q— K2. 
P— B3. 
P— QKt4. 
PXKt. 
QKt— Q2. 
R— Q  sq. 
RXR. 
Q— K3. 
KtXB. 
KtXQ. 


From  White's  tenth  move  on,  he  plays 
a  brilliant  game  and  the  student  should 
study  it  carefully,  as  it  shows  accuracy 
and  judgment. 

These  five  examples  of  masterplay  all 
illustrate  a  scientific  knowledge  of  the 
game,  and  the  student  should  play  them 
over  several  times  on  his  own  board,  as 
they  will  give  him  many  points  on  the  de- 
velopment of  his  forces  after  the  positions 


160  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

attained  by  the  opening  moves,  and  they 
will,  also,  help  him  in  gathering  his  men 
together  for  purposes  of  attack  and  de- 
fense. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Chess  Openings.  I.  Gunsberg.  (Lon- 
don: George  Bell  &  Son.) 

Chess  Player's  Companion.  Howard 
Staunton.  (New  York:  Macmillan  Co.) 

Chess  Pocket  Manual.  G.  H.  D.  Gos- 
sip. (New  York:  Chas.  Scribner's 
Sons.) 

Chess  Sparks.  J.  H.  Ellis.  (New 
York:  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.) 

Chess  Strategetics.  Franklin  K. 
Young.  (Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.) 

Game  of  Chess.  P.  C.  Morphy.  New 
York:  Macmillan  Co.) 

Grand  Tactics  of  Chess.  Franklin  K. 
Young.  (Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.) 

Minor  Tactics  of  Chess.  Franklin  K. 
Young.  (Boston:  Little,  Brown  &  Co.) 

Model  Chess  Instructor.  William 
Steinmitz.  (New  York:  G.  P.  Putnam's 
Sons.) 

161 


162  HOW  TO  PLAY  CHESS 

Principles  of  Chess  in  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice. James  Mason.  (London:  Horace 
Cox.) 

Theory  of  Chess  Openings.  G.  H.  D. 
Gossip.  (Xew  York:  Frederick  Warne 
&  Co.) 

Two  Move  Chess  Problems.  B.  G. 
Laws.  (London:  George  Bell  &  Sons.) 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

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on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


RETC'D  LD 


DEC  2  01974  24 


JUL    3  1961 


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.JAN'8    196^ 


Kt^C'D  LD 


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